Experience

I looked down at my eleven year old's hands today and I saw my own hands from years ago. Smooth nimble fingers with shapely long nails. Hands from before. Before any innocence is gone. Before love or graduation or babies. Before heartbreak or losing a loved one. Her hands reminded me of myself from years ago. I wish there was a way to prepare her for all the things that are to come. To let her know that the tears won't last and that the dramas will subside. That she should be true to herself and her knowledge of right and wrong. Experience will teach her all these things better then I can explain them to her young unsuspecting mind. Experience is something that can not be taught but has to be gained over a period of time. When I was eleven I remember looking at my grandmas hands and thinking about how they were weathered and gnarled. I didn't understand then how they got that way but now I know.