Come What May

Dear Little Girl on the Right,

You sure are cute, standing their holding that little guy’s hand. If you’ll permit me, I’d like to tell you what will happen if you choose to hang on to him for the next 30-some years. You might want to sit down, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Literally. You will be riding shotgun when he gets in a wreck. On another occasion, you’ll be in the back of a cab careening through midtown Manhattan, and your boy there will roll down his window and say something condescending to the driver of the car beside you. The cabbie and the other driver will exchange angry words, but you will arrive safely, albeit shaken, to your hotel.

There will be happy times, though. If you choose to take him to your junior prom (and I highly recommend that you do), he will make you dance. Not for one or two songs, no, this guy will have you on your feet all night. You will snorkel in St. Lucia and watch Madonna ride a mechanical bull in Las Vegas. You will spend countless hours sitting beside him on the Cape May beach, alternately engaging in deep conversation and swimsuit critiques. Your high school friends will love him, your college friends will swoon, and your co-workers will be charmed. The guy is social club soda; he mixes well with everyone.

He looks pretty harmless now, but you will have some of the most gut-wrenching, agonized conversations of your life with him during a long weekend in Jamaica. Your friendship will be so broken it will be a couple years before you talk, or at least until you talk about anything that matters. A time will come, though, when God changes your heart and when you miss him so badly that you will drive six hours to have another hard conversation. You will seek restoration and you will find it.

And then the fun will begin anew. There will be more weekends in New York and more time on the beach. You will see how easy it is to love the person he loves best, and a few times a month when you answer your phone, he will be there, saying, “Yeah, how you doin’?”

So, little girl, you have a big decision to make. Will you hold on to this guy? I promise, if you do, God will use this little boy, in his little blue shorts, to teach you big lessons about forgiveness, reconciliation, and love.

Best wishes,
Joy

P.S. Your mother believes your present look is the only hairstyle that will ever truly work for you.