Hopeful

A few years ago, I was talking about one of my favorite books, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, with someone. She hated it.
I was speechless for three reasons. #1 Her main complaint-“Kids that age don’t think like that!” #2 She, at the time, had three smart young girls at home. #3 We are closely related, and I was just like Scout in more ways than one.

That’s been on my mind lately with everything in the news. Especially all the news about kids protesting gun violence, and the adults that say kids don’t know what they are talking about.
Politics and all other beliefs aside, kids ARE our future. They will be the ones taking our place.
Thanks to sixteen years in pediatrics and all of the great kids I met- I have hope that they are more aware, more considerate, and way smarter than we give them credit for.
I want to share a couple of good memories with you this Monday. Ones that will leave you feeling hopeful.
I met a kid in the lab, not even a tween, who was currently in third place on the adult, not juvenile, UTV racing circuit. He was twelve.
He won $1000 dollars in his last race and gave a portion of his winnings to the team he beat. They were racing to raise money for a girl (the daughter of one of the men on the team) who had recently been diagnosed with cancer.
I turned to his mama and smiled.
She said, “Don’t look at me. That was all him. As soon as they handed him the prize money, he asked if they could split it.”

And there was a seven year old girl who wants to be an engineer – not the train type but the inventing type she explained. She wants to invent things that will make it easier for people with different disabilities to live on their own.
Seven years old.

But she didn’t want to talk about herself, she wanted to talk about her brother. She was so proud of her newborn baby brother that she kept telling me, “I couldn’t believe we get to keep him, really – like for everyday. ”
And she has a guinea pig named Angel, “Because he’s an angel to me. He’s the most precious guinea pig ever. I wish you could meet him.”
She admitted she was nervous – said that’s why she was talking so much- because she knew someone with a hole in their heart that had to have surgery.
She looked at the screen where her heart was beating in real time, and said, “Please,please tell me I don’t. ”
She didn’t :).
Don’t lose hope in humans during this crazy time. There are more good people than bad.
Promise. Keep your eyes, ears and heart open.