Because I didn’t want you to think I was weak.”
I hugged her tightly.
“Telling me when something is happening to you will never make you weak.”
A few weeks later, Emily returned to the school performance.
When she stepped onto the stage, my father was sitting in the front row.
After the performance, she ran straight to Grandpa and hugged him.
That day, I understood something.
Sometimes one sentence, without the rest of the story, can lead your mind toward the darkest possible conclusions.
But the words that had frightened me so badly had actually been a grandfather’s clumsy attempt to remind his granddaughter that she should never be ashamed of herself.
And from that day forward, I taught Emily not only to accept herself.
I also taught her something even more important.
If anything an adult says or does ever makes you feel uncomfortable, you can always
