DS,
There are so many things
That will challenge you in life,
And challenge will push you
To learn things
You should have never had to know.
Sickness,
Emotional pain,
And death.
You know all of these things early,
Yet I’m not sure anyone
Ever thought
To explain them to you
Properly.
Instead, you take everything in,
And you understand it
As best you can.
Help will always be there
When you need it.
If you need it.
But it will take you
A long time
To be okay with asking,
And even longer
To actually accept it.
You spend years,
Trying to repress
Any part of yourself
That makes you different.
That makes you stand out.
After realising you’ll never fit in,
You try to change yourself,
To make it less obvious
That you are different.
You try so hard
To make yourself invisible.
You will repress
Every part of you
That makes you unique,
For fear
Those other people
Will judge you.
But all the while,
You will desperately seek
Some form of acceptance.
First from adults,
Because as far as you are concerned
They are right,
And know what is best
For you.
Some will see you,
Really see you,
But their influence
Will be fleeting.
Most will side with the masses.
Most will tell you to be
Like those that make it hardest
To be yourself.
People will tell you to change,
And because you can’t
You will tell yourself
You have failed them.
That you have failed yourself.
I need you to know
That is not the case.
DS I wish I could tell you
That the loneliness goes away.
I wish I could tell you
That the love
You so desperately want to feel
Is something you will have
In abundance.
Perhaps never in the way you yearned for,
But know you are loved.
Your family’s needs will drain you,
But they also love you.
You have real friends,
Friends who you have absolute trust in
And who love you.
Not a pretend version
Of yourself, not a facade,
Not even the version of yourself
You portray to the world
To make it seem
Like you are confident.
They love all of you,
With no parameters.
Love is hard
For you DS.
It’s not something
That comes easy.
Even now
The most important person
Who could love you,
Needs to remind himself
Every day
That it is okay to do so.
I am so sorry for the damage
I have caused to you
Over the years.
I’m sorry for punishing you,
When you had worked your hardest.
I’m sorry for not understanding
What you gained, when you walked away
From a path which seemed important.
I’m sorry for pushing you
To be something you are not.
I’m sorry for blaming you,
For the things in your life
That you never had control over.
I’m sorry DS, for never trusting you
To make decisions,
For hiding and playing it safe,
When I could have instead
Let you live.
Truly live.
Worst of all DS
I am so sorry for not loving you.
You are wonderful.
You won’t always feel like that,
But it is no less true.
What you overcome in life,
Is truly outstanding.
You judge yourself
Against the worth
And the attainment
Of others.
You push yourself
To grow and develop.
But everything you do
Is done with passion,
Dedication,
And a sense of purpose.
Commitment
Which I cannot begin
To commend enough.
You can turn your hand
To anything
And make it work for you.
You’re flighty.
You are easily distracted,
But you always get done
What needs to be done.
You have so much love
In your heart,
And you willingly invest it
In others
Before you invest it in yourself.
You push yourself
To make life better
For others
And in so doing
Make it harder for yourself.
You struggle to get by.
You push to be better.
And if those around you
Aren’t flourishing
You will do anything you can
To help them, or blame yourself
If you can’t.
It is both the best
And the worst thing about you.
It will take you far in life,
But the one thing
That will evade you
Is your own sense of self.
Your own purpose.
Your own happiness.
But help is always there.
Eventually, you’ll ask for it.
Eventually, you’ll accept it.
Where you go after that
Is up to you.
But know that wherever you go
You have my love,
My support
And my trust.
For once, above all else I have
Your best interests at heart.
One day
I may feel like I have found
‘My purpose’.
But until I know for sure,
I would like
To make you a promise:
‘To keep trying, to enjoy
What I’m doing,
And to take care of myself.
To live a life I am proud of,
And one which allows you
To be as happy
As you possibly can be.’
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