Dear Granddaughters, 

The only constant we consistently count on is change 

Life is like a topographical map 

On the surface the ups and downs seem smooth

But when your soul walks the uphills they bend and curve

Until you cannot tell when you're going up and 

When you're going down 

All you know is that it's always changing 

Shifting 

One day, you will sit at my feet 

Run a finger from elbow to hand and 

Marvel 

At my ups and downs 

You will wonder how I was on an uphill for years 

And in downhills for decades 

But I will remind you of the secret of the life

That I hold in my skin's experiences 

That the uphills did not always feel like master highs 

That the uphills were a grueling series of one foot after another

Till I finally felt that fabulous wind at the top

That nothing beat the whisper of the wind in the coolness of the shadows at the bottom

As I reached for another uphill 

Know that when you crowd around my chair to hear the stories of my century

I will be on my very favorite uphill 

The one where I get to greet the hikers below me

The one where I greet you 

To tell you of all the wisdom I have gathered in my life

Granddaughters, listen to my wisdom

There will be people who call you object 

Sugar and star, stumbling block and tool, tape or matches or flower whose lost too many petals

But I am here to tell you you are none of those things 

You, my granddaughters, are human 

First and foremost 

You are not girlfriend, or wife, or daughter, or mother,

You are always yourselves before you are any use someone can find for you. 

You are a complete, logical being, 

Never an object, nor a playhting

Your vocal chords will ring and move mountains 

You will be told to sit down and shut up 

I am telling you now to fight

You are a human 

So fight anyone who dares tell you differently 

I have fought many uphills just so I can show you the path I took, 

So you can carve new paths for your granddaughters 

So when you place a small finger on my scars 

When you ask did it hurt

I will smile, Resting on top of my mountain, 

And say 

Of course it did 

But it added to my map, and one day, 

You will have your own map 

One to show your granddaughters.