To Prasadini on courageous conversation about LOVE

[Guest guest]

Prasadini wrote:

 

Unfortunately, public school curriculums do not teach much that is

practical. There are some work/study programs,

but I don't know how successful they are. For a kid not going to

college, they are left quite ill-prepared to function

in the world.

 

 

 

Dear Prasadini ~ not only are children and young people not being prepared

by the schools, many are not being prepared by their parents. I have heard my

mother say many times how proud she is that she taught my brother how to cook,

do laundry, clean, etc., so that if he didn't get married right away, he

would be able to take care of himself. Every time I hear this story, I get this

sense of dissonance because I was not taught these skills.

 

My sister and I were talking about this recently and marveling at how very

unprepared we were when we went out into the world, not just in terms of

economic skills but in terms of personal care skills. And I will share this,

though I do so with some trepidation, but we are being honest in this

conversation. My sister became involved in the sex trade after she moved to NYC

to study

dance. This child came very close to becoming involved in this business also.

I thank God/dess that I did not and that my sister eventually left the

trade, although she had become an alcoholic in order to cope. But eventually she

went into rehab, came out, got married, mothered her husband's two daughter the

best she could, and then mothered their own child so extremely well that my

18 year old niece is in her 2nd semester of college, studying Arabic and

languages, has held a job, and is the one of the sweetest, most creative and

unassuming people I have ever know. Both are precious to me. Jai Ma ~ Linda