Words can hurt. But they shouldn't.

Three conversations will stick with me for a very long time but for very different reasons.

On a recent trip to visit girl-child in the City of New York, we were riding on the subway when a mother and daughter stepped into our car. The mother settled next to me while the daughter sat across the car facing us.

They were coming from some type of activity in which the daughter competed. The mother arrived late and missed her daughter perform. She felt it was ok to miss the performance because she arrived in time for the awards ceremony so she was saw her daughter receive her trophy. "Wasn't that the important part, after all?"

This mother followed that up with at least five minutes of complaints. Some were about how inconvenient the evening was for her. Because she was late, there wasn’t any meat left for her to eat – just red beans and rice. She also mentioned several times that she could already be home if she didn’t have to stop at this competition. The other complaints involved the daughter wearing the wrong color lipstick and having her bra strap showing. Even my girl-child realized each of these complaints could have been avoided if the mother just showed up on time for the things that were important to her daughter!

The second conversation occurred on the same vacation. We were walking in a tourist area. A mother and her son were walking close behind us. The son was about ten-years-old. The temperature was below freezing and there was a strong wind. The little boy was a bit whiney because he was cold. His mom snapped at him that they were supposed to be having fun and he’s “no fun to do anything with anymore.”

The third conversation involved me on the first day of my freshman year in high school. My last morning class before lunch was band. A senior girl came up to me. She was well known and liked by everyone in school so I already knew her name but she introduced herself anyway. I introduced myself by saying, “I’m Mara’s sister.” She quickly but gently corrected me by telling me I was related to Mara but I was my own person with my own name.

This was a foreign concept to me. My brother and sister were twins and there were older than me. My entire life I was somebody’s younger sister – either his, hers, or “the twins.” Until my conversation with this senior, I had never considered myself my own person.

All three of these conversations had a lasting impact on one of the participants – positive or negative. When words are spoken, they cannot be unsaid. Try to keep them positive and kind.

Prompt: Words