I walk these halls and I see names with miss matched faces. Where have we gone? Have these broken lives come together in such a way that the picture is fully lost? Are we just glass puppets being guided along the way and hoping to have a master gentle enough to lead us down a path so we do not break in the process?

I remember when I was young and all I needed to worry about was if the whole block had seen my brand new light up shoes! We had life easy when we were young. You gave me a box of crayons and my plastic recorder with a room by myself and I was set. I never had to worry about anything because I had it made! I was living the dream, with homeschool I woke up, did all my homework and by noon I was ready to bust out my box of crayons and see what next my new favorite color would be.

I was the youngest in my family and back then my siblings were my best friends! Who needed any friends when you had family?  When I was young, there was a perfect portrait of hope, and prosperity painted clearly in my mind, and as years went on I woke up still wanting to stride towards that perfect portrait. Then suddenly my family was fighting. I was told this is normal for families to fight- but not us we had it made. Next thing I know I’m sitting in a class room with thirty other people because my parents could no longer handle my siblings fighting them. One piece of the portrait was torn.

I started to see the world and how it was apart from my family and I realized there is a lot I had left to learn. But hey, I still had to show everyone my light up shoes. Then I find out that those aren’t cool any more. Apparently there are a lot of rules that I was not told about when it was just my family and I. One in particular threw my for a loop. Suddenly I had to have a girlfriend. I mean the only girlfriend for me at this time was my mom because lets face it, no one was better then her! Another piece was torn.

I started getting used to this whole “cool thing” and getting involved with other people. Then I find out that not everyone has the same idea of family as I did. First I come to find that some kids don’t have parents at all. Some live with just their mom, others with their dad, and others with a brother. Back then this blew my mind. How could you live without two parents, I used to think I couldn’t survive without both parents. Another piece torn.

The older I got; the less hope I found in the world. It was like all of the sudden I was drowning in decisions.
“Do you like boys or girls? Because if you say you like boys I will make fun of you and torment you. If you say you like girls I will make fun of you and torment you for lying.”
“Why are you so smart? You must think you are better then me.”
“Why don’t you play sports, if you do I am going to destroy you and you are going to have to prove your worth, if not you are a sissy and need to man up.”
“You look sad today you must be depressed, here take these pills”
“You can’t seem to focus take these pills and it will be better.”
“Where did those cuts come from you must just want attention”
“Why are you so religious, you are a goodie too shoes”
“Why don’t you pay enough attention to me you are so selfish”
“Your clothes look awful you need to go shopping”
“No one likes you why are you even here”.
The portrait was destroyed…

When did life become about creating our own style, making a name for ourselves, who we date, and who we are. When did these aspects become the defining moment to tell us that we are good enough! I look in the news and see the decisions that our elementary schoolers have to make now a day. “Come on purple penguins lets get to class” These children are no longer focusing on their light up shoes but someone asking them if they know their sexuality, or “How dare you call my child a boy when he can decide what he wants.” When we have children committing suicide at age seven we have a problem. What happened to the simplicity of life? Is the picture of hope and love so far distorted by the selfish agenda of our generation that we are willing to decimate the portrait of hope and love for all the generations to come. When I was seven I hadn’t even decided my favorite color was yet because they were all so beautiful! Has the darkness become so great we allowed the light to completely burn out. Why don’t we start asking our children what their favorite color is, not if they are gay or straight. Or what kind of ice cream do you want? not do you think you are a boy or a girl. Do we no longer see the beautiful colors we already posses. The beauty of simplicity and innocence. There will be years where the we are crushed by the weight of the world. Can’t we go back to where the largest issue was running out of your favorite color. Its time to bust out those old light up shoes because soon their will not be enough light left for anyone else to see.