An old childhood friend recently sent me a message that made me think about the power of words. Now mind you, I haven’t seen or talked to him in about 50 years, so we are talking about a deep dive in the way-back machine! But awhile back, we reconnected on that magical time warp known as Facebook, which made the trip possible.
He reminded me of a time when my mother took all of us to a zoo, he couldn’t remember if it was Benson’s Animal Farm or Southwick’s Zoo. Our family had five kids, so our friend made six. It’s important to note that he and I were around eight and the youngest child was a baby. My mother had her hands full with a crew like that.
My friend remembered buying a bullwhip at the gift shop and bragging about it to me and my siblings. I vaguely recalled him having the bullwhip and snapping it in the air to show us how it worked. My siblings and I never went into a gift shop because we were lucky to go to the zoo at all.
Evidently, when he was bragging about his toy, my mother reacted. I don’t know exactly what she said, but she pulled him aside and reminded him that if she hadn’t paid for his ticket to the zoo, he would have had to spend his own money and not been able to buy the toy. He told me it was the most humbling experience of his life, one he will never forget. For him to share that story with me after all these years, and to credit my mother with such an important life lesson, touched me deeply.
My mother and I had many challenges in our relationship over the years, so it was heartwarming to hear his thoughts on how she influenced his childhood memories. She shared her thoughts with him, giving him something to think about that was so powerful it stuck with him all these years.
None of us know what power our words carry in the hearts and minds of people we know. Do we leave them with encouraging words to support their journey, or sharp words that slice and leave deep wounds? What memories will they have of our last words exchanged?
Especially when we speak to children, we must remember how our words affect their impressionable psyches. We shape the humans they grow into not only by example but through our speech as well. If we want a kinder, gentler world, it starts with how we treat our little ones.
As a teenager I wrote a poem called False Words, and this stanza from it was about the power of words:
Words meant to heal also destroy;
words of fire will burn.
Yet, words like any child’s toy
can also help us learn.
Thank you, my friend, for reminding me to think about my words and their effect on the people around me. Words are powerful and can leave the listener with either loving or harmful consequences.
Susan B. Lovejoy 