Things We Need To Hear

Dearest Angel,

Hey Baby, your mom told me what happened last week. I know you are hurting right now, I just want you to know that I love you and I am always here when you are ready to talk. 

First, I cannot believe your job would be so stupid as to let you go for no good reason. You are excellent at what you do, you have plenty of proof of that fact. Your clients love you. Your projects are pristine. For God’s sakes, your work is on their company webpage! You did not deserve for this to happen. They must be the biggest idiots born this side of the Mississippi! They will never be able to replace you with anyone better. You say the word, Baby, and I will go down there and give them a piece of my mind! 

I know right now you are thinking that everything is so awful, this life will never get better. I know you feel hopeless and lost, like your whole world crumbled and there is nothing left for you to stand on. That isn’t true. The sadness and pain you are feeling is valid, but it is not forever. Things will get better. This is not the end of your journey, it's just back to square one.

I want to remind you of some other times you’ve felt this way. Don’t stop reading here! Yes, no one wants reminders of failures and hard times, but sometimes you have to revisit the past to see how far you have come. You have been this low before, even lower even. Think back to your college days. You had some tough classes. There were some days when you were so exhausted, you thought you couldn’t go on. But you did. Do you remember when you called me crying over that midterm essay? The one that counted as half the term grade and whose deadline you missed? You thought your college career was over. You thought you would fail that class and have to pay for another semester. But did you? No you did not. You pulled yourself up, marched right into that professor’s office, and promised you would have that essay in her box by the morning. And you did. If I remember correctly, you got a 95 on that essay, right? Only missed the 5 points for turning it in late?

Let’s talk about your love life. I remember a certain young woman going on date after date after date for a while there. She fell in love a few times over the years, only to have that love discarded in the end. Did she give up on love when her heart was broken? No. She grieved, she healed, and she learned. Now look at you, happily married to a wonderful man. You are happier with him than you ever were with any of the other losers who lost you. Imagine what your life would be like now if you had given up on love when you were down. You would never have found Andy, your self-described perfect match. You would never have the treasured memories you two are making together. What would life be like without those?

Baby, you have been strong your whole life. You were a strong little girl, teaching yourself to ride a bike and clean up your own scraped knees. You were a strong sister, watching over your little brothers. And when your father died and our lives all fell apart, you were a strong young woman, taking care of your whole family. Those were dark times for us all. I know how hard it was for you to deal with such big feelings at so young of an age. I know we should have been the ones to care for you, not the other way around. You lifted us all up until we could stand on our own again. You shouldn’t have had to, but you did. You proved as a teenager that you were stronger than pain. You were stronger than sadness and devastation and crushing loss. You were strong enough to keep moving forward no matter how hard life gets, and you still are. You are an inspiration to me, you always have been.

So Baby, here is what I know you are going to do. You are going to be down. You are going to cry and mourn and rage at the injustice of the world, until you are ready to get back up again. Then, you are going to stand up, brush yourself off, march straight back to square one, and begin again. You are going to find another dream job, this one even better than the last. You are going to learn new skills, that you are going to love more than you thought you ever could. You are going to make new friends, who truly care about you and support you in your dreams. You are going to wake up every day with joy in your heart, just like you did before. I know this for sure. I know this because you have shown me it’s true. You have been knocked down before and you always get back up, always. You are going to show the world just how strong you really are. You are going to thrive.

When you are ready, give me a call. It is my turn to be strong for you. I will be here to lift you up until you can stand on your own again, maybe even after, if you’ll let me. I know you don’t need my support, but I will give it to you anyway, whether you like it or not. I love you very much Baby, more than you will ever know. I will see you soon.

Love Always,

Grandma

P.S. I am serious, just say the word and I will give those bosses of yours a lesson to remember. They will be sorry they ever made my Baby cry. Really, I already have a speech prepared and everything. Just say the word.