By Annie Lee // Sundown United – Busan, Korea
I slowly spelled out the word “people” at the top of a fresh page in my notebook as my 18-month-old daughter, June, grasped the end of the pencil to feel the motion of my writing. It got me thinking. There is so much about people I want her to feel, to know. Just as I drew each letter of the word and she looked along, watching the pencil-lead mark rounded shapes under the shadow of our hands, I will guide her heart’s entrance into a world shaped by people- a world where she will be either directly or indirectly related to every person who co-inhabits it along her side.
Dearest June,
It is okay to smile at strangers. It is fine to imagine they are good. It is good to create a world where people help each other and care. It is great to love a person you have never even spoken to. And it is sublime to give all your heart and soul to an idea about people. There is an idea inside each of us. It was born there and needs to be nourished and nurtured. The idea inside you is grand and infinite and electric. It is hope, the essence.
Hope
It is what makes us smile when we open our eyes in the morning and what gives us peace enough to close our eyes for the night. Hope gives breath and pulse to dreams and sees that nightmares always fade with the new sunrise.
The Test
It is bound to happen- the moment you feel that naivity may be a threat to your consciousness. Remember that it isn’t innocence that allows the spirit to be wounded, it’s fear. Scary stories run icy cold through hardened veins. They are so easy to believe. They prey on deep, dark thoughts that fester in the shadows of the mind. Yet, there is nothing more terrifying than living in fear. Be weary of jaded spirits. They want others to feel as they do. No one wants to be alone.
The Giver
A stranger comes and takes your hand. An old woman looks at you and knows you understand. She breaks an apple in half with her bare hands and hands you one half. She knows you, and you her. You are revived.
Your Reality
Your mother is good. Your grandmother and her mother are good. Your father is good and so was his. The old woman who gave you the apple- she is good. And you my darling baby- you are more than good. You hold a power of immeasurable greatness. Believe in people, believe in love, and believe in the goodness of your world, for you are its creator.
Sundown United Magazine 
Awe Brandi, thank you. Thank you for your support and for your feedback and for doing what’s best for your babies and for our world. ♥
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I love it Annie, such an inspiration. It’s hard to remember that the little ones look up to us for support and guidance. It’s hard to let them have a bright outlook on the world when there are so many dark corners of it. We hope that they do not get their hearts broken even though we know they will and when they cry they break ours. Being their for our children is an important thing in our lives that is often looked over now days. It is good to see someone with the same hopes as me when it comes to the future.
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Awe Brandi, thank you. Thanks for your support and for your feedback and for doing what’s best for your babies and for our world. ♥
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