IS IT SAFE TO LOOK AT THE MOON?

What Matters Most

A few days ago I learned my grandson became heart broken because his friend left him.

He is a talented and sensitive boy, and he has a tendency to lose control of his emotions. He gets attached to a friend, and when that friend 'leaves' him, he gets terribly emotional. He tends to keep things to himself.

He is fortunate in that his mother cares and loves him, and is always 'on hand' to help him through his emotional upheavals.

I remember my teenhood days when I got emotional and thoughts of 'leaving home' crowd my mind. I have, in fact, 'ran' away from home a number of times, but because I was young and didn't understand the need for finances when alone in the streets; so I ultimately got back home.

I believe many of our teenagers roaming the streets, who have left home because of some disagreements with family members, are not aware that 'leaving home' is the worst they can think of. I believe being young is the hardest part of a child's growing up. They have the tendency to act impulsively, and to blame others first before turning to themselves and scrutinizing the whole episode of what happened, how things got very 'heated', and why they should calm down and think hard before deciding to 'leave home'.

As adults, we have gone through all the emotional upheavals that teenagers get into; and as adults, we tend to forget that we were young once. It is easy to deny we did not get angry and frustrated with our parents when we were teens. But the fact is we got in trouble because of our youth.

It is not to say that young people don't think; but there is that element of defiance that becomes the root of disagreement; or shall we say, the beginning of conflict. There are fortunately youth who have the ability to control their emotions; and there are more of them as compared to those who unfortunately believe they have been wronged; and therefore they must either 'leave home' to get away from the frustration and disagreements in the home or find a way to waste their life and therefore their future.

I understand the difficulty of having children, caring for them through their daily, growing lives, and for parents to realize that one day they have not given the best care and love to their children, who decide to do drugs, to steal, to waste their life on the streets. When parents ask themselves the question: 'what did I do to my children?', as adults we come to the conclusion we have not given them the best care and love they deserve.

Our children deserve to be loved, to be cared for no matter how they turn out, to be shielded from harm, to be sheltered from horror, to be fed, to be LOVED. Isn't that the reason why we have children?