Forts

I had an amazing childhood because of my beloved sister, Joy. She made everything better & more fun. She made me feel welcome because she included me in her adventures. We shared a bedroom & it was the most fun. We had sleepovers & cuddle time & fun conversations. Having her as a sister was, & is, a gift. Sibling are blessings. We had the most fun making up dance routines to “Thriller” on the wooden floor of our home on College Street. We collected tadpoles & rode bikes & played until it was too dark to see the path in front of us. She made me feel not so alone, as I always had her as my friend, ally, confidante, & homie.

Some of my favorite memories were those when we visited my dad & stepmom in Fairfield, Connecticut, when we made secret forts. There were no cell phones, no tablets, no T.V.’s, no computers in our world, just each other & it was grand & oh so fun. We made forts out of sticks & leaves & dirt. We didn’t mind getting dirty & messy & would stay outside until dark.

Our forts were open to our friends. We didn’t ban anyone, require codes, or have any criteria, whatsoever, for entering. All were allowed in & could leave at anytime.

I think we create invisible forts in our lives, these days, & keep people out, deliberately. I think this inhibits us from fully experiencing the beauty & diversity of people in our world. It’s more comfortable & less dangerous, but it keeps us lonely & isolated & less joyous.

This morning, Hope, James, & I were outside enjoying this to-die/for weather & Hope created a fort using her pink kitty cat robe & the swing set. She created a code. She mentioned that only certain peeps were allowed in.

This is what is wrong with our world, as we create many walls. As a result, we cut ourselves off from experiencing the full beauty & great uniqueness of the world. We create blocks & barriers.

Why not break the walls down & include more people in our world?

Why not open our home to all & join together in conversations & meals?

Why not spend more time creating community & unity & equality in our communities?

Why not have an open mind, open heart, & welcoming spirit to ALL?

I forbidded  Hope to have codes to enter her fort & told her she mustn’t ban people from entering, that if she wanted privacy, she could go in her room & lock her door for a bit, but that excluding her brother, or anyone for that matter, was not allowed whatsoever. Keeping people out, for whatever reason, is a form of bullying & we won’t have that in the Rosella home.

We teach kindness & acceptance & tolerance & love & peace in our home. I can only hope it sinks in & our children take those important attributes into the world & promote the same. We raise our kids to be includers, accepters, & welcomers (yes, it’s a word), of all people.

Hope looked me & decided to no longer use her handwritten code as a form of entry. She said, “I’ll be a nice nice nice unicorn & include ALL in my fort. James, come on in- you can come to my unicorn party.”

James smiled & went in.

This is how we change the world. This is how we shift the world.

May you raise includers, welcomers, & acceptors. May you build bridges, NOT walls.
May you see hearts, FIRST, when meeting people.

May you reach out & NOT withhold.
May you know love, be love, & walk in love.

As for me & my sister, I’d do just about anything to make a fort with her right now.