You are the sweetest, nicest, most innocent little boy. You have so much to offer and people should be so blessed that you are in their lives. You love to laugh and play and run and draw and listen to music. You are so good at those things. You are so smart, creative and funny. You lighten the mood when you come into a room. As your grandpa used to tell you, you are ‘strong like bull’ or maybe like the Incredible Hulk.
No one should ever want to hurt you. No one should ever betray you or touch you or make you touch them. Those are not good people. They want to take away your innocence. I want to protect you from them and from getting hurt by those bad people. You really are a very good and wholesome boy.
No one notices what kind of toys you have. In the long run, it will build your character. I know that isn’t what you want to hear right now and how jealous you are of the other little boys with all their new toys and they seem to have plenty of them, but it’s okay. If you didn’t see what they had you would never know what you are missing. Remember when you were living in that neighborhood and all your other little friends, like Danny, Joey, and Mason; none of them had a lot of toys and you guys were happy. And remember how much fun you and your brother have with those endless hours spent playing Baseball Stars and Superbowl, or even better Strat-o-matic. You don’’t need a Genesis or a Playstation to be happy. Just think how you have all that extra time to play baseball.
And don’t be afraid to be good at sports. You are such a fast and athletic little kid. The kids who pick on you when you do well are very, very jealous of you. They only pick on you when you score touchdowns, so remember that. Some people really enjoy seeing you do well. Your grandpa, grandma, and father love to see you play. They relive their youth through you and someday you will do the same for your kids. Be glad that your dad wants to play catch with you because most kids don’t have that opportunity, or if they do their dads aren’t very good.
No one notices what kind of clothes you are wearing. In a lot of neighborhoods kids don’t even have tennis shoes and wouldn’t care if they were red, purple, or green. When you get older you can buy yourself nice clothes that you will appreciate. Plus, because you like to climb fences and trees like a monkey you will probably tear your nice clothes.
You are so smart. When you get older, the other kids, and even adults, are going to look up to you and tell you how smart you are. Believe it or not, you are going to become a teacher and even teach college. Your uncle, grandpa, and mom have been such good examples for you. Not everyone has those kinds of people in their lives. Who cares if the other kids laugh at you for saying silly things? In your head you know that the jokes are really funny, plus “William the Orange” as King of England is much funnier than the real story. They probably don’t know about his cousin ‘Emma the Egg’, or their pet ‘Tony the Tiger’, either, those boring people.
You are not a bad kid. You like to have fun, and are very curious, and people can’t keep up with you; especially the teachers and the other kids who yell at you and get you in trouble. They don’t know that really you are just too smart for their pace. Believe it or not, one day you will have 10 years of college and 3 degrees, which is much more than all those other people who laugh or yell at you. And the reason you are so much smarter than all of them is because of your creativity. Don’t ever let anyone tell you not to think outside of the box.
Don’t try and grow up too fast because you will never have this opportunity to be a kid again. All the smoking you see your mom do is very, very bad. Don’t try to copy her. All the drinking you see your grandpa do is also very, very bad. All those dirty magazines and movies your grandpa has are also very bad. Don’t look at them. Those people don’t want you to be a kid anymore. All the swearing you hear the other kids say just makes them sound stupid, so don’t swear. Also, don’t dislike people because of the color of their skin like your dad, grandma, and grandpa do. One day you will be friends with a lot of those same kinds of people and tell your dad and grandma how stupid they sound.
You are the sweetest, cutest, most innocent little boy. Don’t let anyone take that away from you because people really, really do love you.
A Dollar Out of Fifteen Cents 