You are at such a tender age and the world at large lends much confusion; I know that sometimes you feel like a hamster on a wheel chasing a great nothingness, but hear me when I tell you that it’s merely momentary and that one day you will come off that wheel and actually miss the simplicity of it.

I know it’s hard and as your mother I hate to see you in pain; emotional pain is the hardest pain to heal because there is no band aid to hide the wound, no bruise to watch for signs of healing and no way to know the true depths of the injury, but again as your mother I promise you that it will pass and you’ll be all the better for it on the other side.

I know it bothers you that you don’t yet have a girlfriend; you hear what others say about you, how beautiful you are both inside and out and that leaves you standing, staring in a mirror and wondering why the girls you are interested in don’t see all that everyone else can see in you. The answer my little love is simple, girls your age don’t want “nice boys” they want bad-ass thugs who disrespect their mothers, flip off cops and hate the world, but take heart young man; SHE is out there and you will find her and she will love you for exactly who it is that you are without trying to mold you into something you are not. I know that you don’t want to trust my words, but you know that I have never lied to you and so you let your tears fall on my shoulder and allow me to comfort you.

Gone are the days when you could climb into my lap and I could hush away the monsters or kiss away the pain, but I still have two open arms to hold you, two hands to wipe away your tears and wisdom that comes from watching you grow to advise you when you need counsel.

I am your mother and when you hurt, I hurt; when you need protection, I will fight and when you  require shelter from life’s storms I will be safe harbor in the choppiest of seas.

I love you.