World I bequeath to you today
one little girl in a crispy dress..
with two blue eyes...
and a happy laugh that ripples all day long,
and a batch of light blonde hair
that bounces in the sunlight when she runs.


I Trust You'll Treat Her Well.


She's slipping out of the
backyard of my heart this morning
and skipping off down the
street to her first day at school.
And never again will she be completely mine...
Prim and proud, she'll wave a young and
independent hand this morning,
and say goodbye and walk with little-lady
steps to the nearby schoolhouse...



Gone will be the chattering little hoyden
who lived only for play,
and gone will be the delightful
little gamin who roamed the yard
like a proud princess with nary a care
in her little world.



Now, she will learn to stand in lines...
and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called...
She will learn to tune her little-girl ears
for the sound of school bells, and for deadlines...
She will learn to giggle and gossip...
and to look at the ceiling in a disinterested way
when the little boy across the aisle
sticks out his tongue.



Now she will learn to be jealous...
and now she will learn how it is to feel hurt inside...
and now she will learn how not to cry.



No longer will she have time to sit
on the front porch steps on a summer day
and watch while an ant scurries across a crack in the sidewalk...
Or will she have time to pop out of bed
with the dawn to kiss lilac blossoms in the morning dew.



Now she will worry about important things...
like grades...and what dresses to wear...
and whose best friend is whose.



Now she will worry about the little boy
who pulls her hair at recess time...
and staying after school...
and which little girls like which little boys...
And the magic of books and knowledge will soon
take the place of the magic of her blocks and dolls.



And she'll find her new heroes.
For five full years I've been her sage and Santa Claus...
her pal and playmate...her parent and friend.
Now, alas, she'll learn to share her worship and
adoration with her teachers (which is only right).



No longer will her parents be the smartest,
and greatest in the world.
Today, when the first school bell rings,
she'll learn how it is to be a member of the group...
with all its privileges, and, of course,
its disadvantages, too.



She'll learn in time that proper
young ladies don't laugh out loud...
or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms...
or watch ants scurry across
the cracks in a summer sidewalk...



Today, she'll begin to learn for the first time
that all who smile at her are not her friends.
That "the group" can be a demanding mistress...
and I'll stand on the porch and
watch her start out on the long,
long journey to becoming a woman.



So WORLD,
I BEQUEATH TO YOU TODAY ONE LITTLE GIRL
in a crispy dress, with two blue eyes,
a happy laugh that ripples all day long,
and a batch of light blonde hair that bounces
in the sunlight when she runs.



I TRUST YOU'LL TREAT HER WELL.