I often think about you, mother, and wonder if you’re proud…
of the man that I’ve become to date as you watch me through the clouds.
As I navigate my way through life, I wonder if it was you,
who instilled in me a faith so strong and the will to see life through.

We all yearn for affirmation from our parents. Affirmation that our life matters, that public declaration that mom and dad are proud of who we are and will become, warts and all.

When young people don’t receive this affirmation from their parents at an early age, they turn to their peers, and they turn to the streets. What good can come of this? My mother died when I was eight, and I missed her affirmations in my formative years. I am fortunate that I learned my higher purpose early on and that my gifts were nurtured by others. Nonetheless, decades later I still yearn for her voice to say “Well done, son.” To change the trajectory of a generation, our young people must hear from us who they truly are: sacred gifts with a higher purpose.