She was always last to venture out,
Into the schoolyard every single day.
At lunch and recess, all she wanted
Was to simply just hide or run away.
She had tried to find herself a hiding place,
At least until the school bell rang.
But it was always too late ~ they saw her ~
Oh, how they enjoyed taunting her every day.
“Sticks and stones may break my bones”;
She pretended to laugh and ran away.
She would run and hide behind a tree
And sob like she did almost every day.
“Fatty, fatty, two by four,
Couldn’t get through the kitchen door!”
She needed to go home and tell her Mom,
She just simply couldn’t take it any more.
“Now, don’t you listen, it's going to be alright”,
Those were the words her Mom had said.
So she went upstairs, grabbed her teddy bear,
And sobbed her heart out on her bed.
Then suddenly a light bulb flashed,
She had a wonderful thought that day.
So off to school she went next day,
Skipping along and feeling really quite gay.
Well, lunchtime came; she went outside,
And threw her home-packed lunch away.
She decided she was never eating lunch again,
She was going to be thin, and it would start today.
Well, time rolled on, as time often does,
She developed curves and sort of popular was she.
She excelled in gymnastics, cheerleading, swimming, and
She worked hard at being all that she could be.
But something happened, at school one day,
After dinner, she went upstairs to sleep with her teddy bear.
Next morning her Mom went in to wake her,
And brushed from her face, her lovely, golden hair.
Beside her favorite teddy bear was a little note,
Tied to his neck with a ribbon in the softest pink.
A note she had hand-written beautifully in calligraphy,
Using her treasured special paper, pen, and ink.
It said, “sticks and stones do break your bones”,
Those names they called out would have always hurt me.
Don't be sad Mom, I couldn't take it anymore, and
Now I'm with angels in heaven, don’t you see?
I heard that up in heaven there’s no judgment,
There everyone is accepted all the same.
But please remember to tell the kids at school,
How much it hurts when you call someone names.
Well, something had happened at school that day,
Kids were teasing her about being as thin as a rail,
Her teacher wished to talk to her Mom,
She was worried she was getting just way to frail.
At first she cried, and then realized, it didn’t matter at all,
If she made herself fat or model thin,
In her mind, no matter how hard she tried,
She was never, ever going to fit in.
~*~ Sticks and stones hurt at all ages, ~*~
~*~ please be careful what you say, ~*~
~*~ you may really hurt someone today. ~*~
I think I must have grown up in the best of times because
I don't remember rudeness and bullying like this. We were taught self-respect and
respect for others. We had wonderful teachers who were very aware of everything that
was going on in classes as well as on the play ground and in the lunch room.
Attending church and youth meetings was a big thing then and the
Golden Rule was the basic law! I saw a BIG change in students and attitudes after
prayer was taken out of schools and I have never understood how one person's religion, or
maybe I should say lack of religion, could be imposed on the rest of us. Does one have to wonder
why there are shootings in the schools and parents killed in their homes?
Marilyn
