Enjoy!
I suppose everyone has a hope deep within them that this world isn't all there is. -that death isn't the end, but the beginning of how life should have been to begin with. When we hear of the death of someone... anyone... even someone we never met, we grieve as if it was unexpected.
-unexpected that someone alive would suddenly not be.
How odd. What a strange thing death is.
But life is also odd.
And so, it came to be that what little Milly called, "life" seemed to be lacking HOPE. She learned at a young age that it was useless to hope.
Why hope for snow, when all that came was rain?
Why hope for a new little brother, when all you got was a cat?
I suppose this is the part of the story where we hear the sad tale of dear little Milly's troubles. Was she an orphan? Was there disease, or war? Was she an invalid?
But what if she was just a normal little girl living a normal life? What if she was above average? What if she had two parents who loved here dearly? What if she lived in a beautiful home and had everything money could buy?
Our story would be - BORING!!
If Milly was content and happy and had all of her needs and even wants supplied, we wouldn't have a story. But, we do have a story, so what is the problem? The problem is she doesn't have hope. How had she come to this belief that it wasn't worth hoping for anything? Maybe that is the problem right there.
You see, Milly never asked for anything. She didn't need to. Her needs were supplied before she had the realization that it was even a need. When she did ask for something, she had to use her imagination to think up something so extraordinary that everyone just laughed at her.
"What would you do with a swimming pool full of snow?" they laughed.
"Little girls can't have their own spaceship and fly to the moon! they laughed again.
So, Milly quit asking.
She quit hoping.
This was all there was to life, and she must accept whatever happened to cross her path on that particular day.
She was content, but quiet.
She could have been spoiled, but she wasn't. I'm not sure why not, maybe it was just her temperament to be submissive.
One day her mother told her it would be her fourth birthday very soon. "Is there anything you want?" her mother asked.
Milly thought that was a strange question to ask. No one had seemed to care what she wanted before. In fact, SHE hadn't really cared what she wanted. Deep inside of her something woke up and she began to think of things that could improve the quality of her life exponentially.
A pony!
A baby brother or sister!
A hot air balloon.
Mother smiled. "Let's think about a gift I can wrap up for you. Maybe something you can hold, or play with, or wear.
But her favorite toys were the ones in her room, and she had plenty of nice clothes.
"I hope it snows!" she whispered, not realizing that it doesn't usually snow when it is 50 degrees Fahrenheit outside.
When her birthday came, she didn't get any of the things she hoped for. Milly's favorite snacks were on the table along with a plateful of cupcakes! She got a set of paints, a new doll, and a very soft blanket. Her grandparents and cousins came over for the afternoon too! It was a very happy day.
At the end of the day her mother came to tuck her in bed.
"Mama!" little Milly said, "I know what I want for my birthday now."
Mother smiled gently.
"I want cupcakes, paint, a new doll and this blanket that I love so much! I want my cousins to come over and play! I want to run and splash in the rain puddles! I hope I get all of those things when I turn 5 too!"
Mother smiled at her little girl.
How could she explain to her that she probably wouldn't get those exact things for her 5th birthday? In fact, in another year she might have new things she enjoyed playing with.
No worries, little Milly would learn in time. Little children are allowed to think like little children sometimes.
In time she will also learn that the things one should hope for are not things at all. And sometimes what we can't see is more real than what we can.
That night Milly's mother realized that one cannot hope for something they already have. That is just as pointless as hoping for something that is not real.
Hope is an optimistic attitude that causes a person to not give up. Hope gives us the understanding that what is obvious is not all that exists.
Hope is for people who don't already have an ideal life. Hope promises us a better tomorrow!
So, I guess that is why little Milly didn't have hope.
Today was a perfect day!
Hopefully, wonderful memories like this will stay with her so that, when she gets older, and her days aren't so perfect anymore, she will find it easy to hope for better days again.
Maybe not spaceships and ponies.
Maybe just cupcakes and soft blankets.
Beauty and good can always be found, if one looks for them.
Don't lose hope.
Well, there is the story. Evidently, I have been trying to figure out what hope is and is not.
Please let me know what you think hope is and if my very random story makes any sense at all.
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