Things I Wish for You (By special request)

For our children and grandchildren...


We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse. For my grandchildren I know better.

I'd like them to know about hand-me-down clothes and homemade ice cream and left over meatloaf. I really would.

My cherished grandson, I hope you learn humility by being humiliated and that you learn honesty by being cheated.

I hope you learn to make your bed and mow the lawn and wash the car - and I hope that nobody gives you a brand-new car when you are 16. And I hope you have a job by then.
It will be good if at least one time you can see a baby calf born and see your old dog put to sleep.

I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in. I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother. And it is all right to draw a line down the middle of the room, but - when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared - I hope you'll let him.

I hope you have to walk uphill with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely. And rainy days when you have to hitch a ride, I hope your driver doesn't have to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with somebody as uncool as your mom.

If you want a slingshot I hope your father teaches you how to make one instead of buy one. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books, and when you learn to use those new fangled computers, you also learn how to add and subtract in your head.

I hope you get razzed by friends when you have your first crush on a girl, and that when you talk back to your mother I hope you learn what Ivory soap tastes like.

May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on the stove, and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole.

I hope you get sick when some stupid old person blows cigar smoke in your face. I don't care if you try beer once, but I hope you won't like it. And if a friend offers you a joint or any dope I hope you are smart enough to realize that he is not your friend.

I sure hope you make it in time to sit on a porch with your grandpa or go fishing with your uncle. May you feel sorrow at a funeral and the joy of holidays.

I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through a neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time, when you give her a plaster of Paris mold of your hand.

These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness.
(by Paul Harvey)