What Do I Say?

Sometimes Callie asks me questions that I honestly have no idea how to answer.

Most of the time they are about math.

But the other day on the way home from school she asked me…..

“Mama, what if no one ever falls in love with me?  Because of my leg?  Do you think anyone will ever love me?”

What do I say to that?

Part of me wanted to cry.  Because I hoped that we were doing a good job of pouring into her and building up her self esteem….that she would know what a treasure and gem she truly was.  What a gift she would be to her future husband.

But I looked at her in the rear view mirror….those big blue eyes looking into mine for reassurance.

So I told her that the same things that we love about her are what her husband will love about her.

I told her I love how strong she is.  How she gets knocked down 8 times but gets back up 9 times.  How she has walked through hellfire and come out even more fierce.  How she hasn’t let the struggles we’ve gone through change her kind heart.  That she makes surviving look beautiful.  He too will fall in love with this warrior side of her.

I told her I love how kind she is…..how she has a heart of gold.  How she picks up lady bugs and puts them outside.  How she would give people pats on the face when she was little and squeeze their cheeks between her hands to show them she loved them.  I love how she is so quick to help others and absolutely adores older people and little kids.  How she cries  when an animal dies in a movie and how she still gets so heartbroken about losing her first horse, Marston. He too will fall in love with this empathetic side of her.

I told her I love how inspiring she is……how she inspires people not by how perfect she is but how she deals with her imperfections.  How she has this glow about her that everyone who meets her sees.  How she has a soul full of sunshine and she lets it shine through the cracks of her broken pieces.  Wrapped in grace and grit.  He too with fall in love with luminous side of her.

I told her I love how brave she is…..how she’s brave because she owns her story.  She’s brave because she never gives up even on the days she really wants to.  She’s brave because she has fought battles most people can’t imagine.  She’s brave because, just like a flower, she has grown back after being stepped on.  He too will fall in love with the girl who isn’t looking to be rescued–she’s the kind of girl that’s carrying her own sword.

I told her that he still might fall in love with her eyes, the musical sound of her laugh, or the way her nose crinkles when she laughs.  Her extremely long eyelashes or her wavy blonde hair.

But it will be her sunflower soul, her wild fierce spirit, and her soft heart that he will cherish the most…….just like the two people that loved her first.

Her Mama and Daddy.