by Cachet Wells
Fog fills the sky, blowing wind chimes, busy free-flowing traffic, and the sound of kids playing at the park are just a few memories of days gone by. As little children, the liberating freedom that comes with no bills, no responsibilities and not a care to be had by them at all. Freedom to sleep when you’re ready, freedom to expect meals when you’re hungry and the unwavering freedom of protection from the big bears and giants of this world. All of which were those initial freedoms introduced and provided to us by my parents. They instilled in me the basic concepts of freedom in self-worth, integrity and love, loving me and the skin I was born in from day one until the very end.
No matter the circumstance or surroundings, knowing who you are is life’s true equity to my existence. That who you profess to be is whom you should be representing daily through your integrity. That just because they loved me doesn’t mean that everybody else would like everything about you. For, after all, love is the first emotion we learn. It’s expressed through our words but also seen in our individual actions. Loving me and the skin I was born in, from day one until the very end.
From the very minute that we enter this earth, we are taught to embrace love from the day of our birth. That first look and cry out that says come love on me to those next moments of skin to skin, can’t you just see how it all began? We are only little children for a season, but adults of our own choosing for a lifetime, carving away at a journey of our own life choices. You see the very values that are deposited in us lay the groundwork to such a bigger plan. Brick by brick, it paves the course work of how we navigate this very land that we charter everyday. Loving me and the skin I was born in, from day one until the very end.
Now fully grown, but not to capacity, for there is yet so much more for me to see. Yes, of equity, resources, venues, destinations and of the accomplishments that are yet to be. However, more importantly those essential things like cultural consciousness, racial sensitivities and gender harmony between Americans, no matter the color that’s seen. Key characteristics for knowing where you’re going have to start from, a place of knowing your history and where you’ve been. Those days of old have become days anew, so quickly changing; one day they’re here and the next they are through. No do-overs or reminders, for this is just how it is in the land of America the Beautiful. Loving me and the skin I was born in, from day one until the very end.
My love letter to me is one so unique because the greatest lesson of love started within thee. Not relying on others to celebrate, honor or appreciate the characteristics, qualities and traits I’m built of. That responsibility is solely mine, and that is the personal goal I’ll continually strive to rise above. I know who I am and exactly what I want as a black blessed blind woman. As a woman, I’m asked what is it that you actually want. Simply stated, to be embraced as the person for which I am, not for what I look like. After all, embracing others whom I don’t resemble is what’s given without question. Just like our families and friends, we give them that respect until it’s not reciprocated. Protective of the relationships we forge, we shield them, cover them and certainly reveal to them our deepest treasures, all that is on our hearts and minds. Like Eve in the garden, we stood beside man bare, sharing all of who we are in the beauty for which the creator has made us. Filling up the pages of my love letter to me is rightfully just. Loving me and the skin I was born in, from day one until the very end.
What a woman wants is as complex as she is, but it is also quite simplistic as we travel down the list. She wants her life to empower and impact all that is in her heart to give, which can often be so difficult in the times we currently live in. With much love and kindness to share with so many. What a woman wants first is to give of herself through her purpose, her passion and of her heart’s desire to love and nurture. Generosity, care, genuineness with integrity is who she is, all rolled up into one being. The love she offers to those she loves is a representation of her love letter to herself put into action, a true reflection of her purpose given from Him alone who sits above.
An open heart and a helpful hand to walk the distance of this journey of life only paved for her. The honest road of trust, patience and humility to offer along the way as she must. Understanding my love letter with empathy and valuing the plan to succeed because she reciprocates loyalty, honesty and friendship to everyone that crosses her path. What she continually realizes is that people matter, and to that point it boils down to that simple math: that what women want is to be loved and respected by those they choose to build, partner and connect with because it’s offered to them.
My love letter to me is a beautiful story of positive energy, trust, and genuineness in every friendship, giving to others that which I want to receive. That highest level of reverence and dignity we can give that is not only heard in words, but seen in actions: to be patient, engaging and understanding to the sensitivities of others and myself. Recognizing that what a woman really wants is to be given every opportunity to live in her own truth, standing flat-footed on her foundation and freedom of love, enough to put herself first. Loving me and the skin I was born in from day one until the very end. This, my dear friend, is my love letter to me of a journey to always be better, and that’s how I will always win.