I'm the child you could have been. The child who had family to support her in anything she wanted to try. The child who had her mother's love and her father's approval. Do you remember me? I'd like it if you did. I have all these dreams, and at one time, they were yours too. I'm the child you could have been if everything had gone in your favor.

It didn't.

Maybe you wanted something else from this lifetime. Maybe where you really learn something is when it isn't always easy. It may be less easy to see the world as a beautiful place from where you are now. I see it that way. Where there is pain and chaos, I can see hope and chances to heal. Naive? I'm unfamiliar with that word.

Yes, you may not have had it easy. Maybe you had a mother who thought you were cute when you were like her, and as soon as you started making your own decisions, it meant you were somehow broken. Maybe you had a father who threatened to kill you, or who tried to. Maybe so few people told you that you were good enough that, when someone finally did, you disbelieved them. There are a thousand thousand ways you can hurt.

Thing is, I'm still here, even after it all. I'm still inside you. I may speak more softly as the decades pass. I still speak. As long as you live, I will be waiting for you to come and say, "hello."

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And personal piece. Unsure if it turned out more sad or more celebratory. Both work.