Dear ten-year-old Deborah. You are about to be introduced to a new way of living. You grew up watching western movies all your life and you are about to move to Texas with your family, so when you arrive in Houston Texas, you will have culture shock. You will learn later in life not to have preconceived ideas about things. It will be different than what you assumed it would be, but hang on to your hat, there will be lessons to learn.
The first lesson is going to be a reinforcement that there is evil in the world, but it will teach you to be a protector of the innocent ones. The first encounter is with a sexual predator, when he comes for you, a fighting spirit will arise, and he will not be able to accomplish his goal. Though no one is going to believe you, you warned them that he was there, so when a little three-year-old child out riding her tricycle is messed with, they will have already known, and action will be quick and to the point.
The second lesson is when your parents and their friends leave twelve small children in your care. Someone is going to break into the apartment with you and all these children, but you will be protected, and you will manage to get everyone into the bathroom and bar the door with your back and no one can come through that door. These are times that you will look back and see how the hand of God was in every situation.
You are going to encounter various cultures that you will find amazing. The first trip to the grocery store will be like going to a circus with all the assorted colors and sounds. You come from a place will everything seems so ordinary and drab to a place where everything seems so alive and magical. You will encounter different languages of people and their taste in food will surprise you. It will open your eyes to wanting to know more about different people. So, my child go, see and taste the wonders of the world.
The third lesson is going to hurt but you will remember it later in life and it will come back to you. You mom is going to attempt to commit suicide and you will feel the pain. Things will turn out alright, but they will not be easy. You have already learned that death is all around you, but you will discover that life is too. You will come to appreciate the gift of life and will need to remember this later on. You will see the hand of God on your life, even though at this moment you will not understand it.
You will continue to go to church even though nobody goes with you except your sisters. The seeds will be planted. Just because things look one way, it does not mean that is the way they really are.
All Through The House With Love 