Behold...Your Teenagers

 Many hear the word 'teenager' and associate it with negative connotation.  I believe teenagers are the sleeping giants who have the potential to change society in a way we adults never can or could. I realize that stating one teenager is like another is like associating one food in describing all.  But I'm talking about my teenager.  I have been preparing ever since she was a baby for these teenager years when she would become a 'menace to society.'  I heard many horror stories from other mothers of their personal stories with their teens.  I'd seen Fast Times at Ridgemont High one too many times.  And moreover I mostly feared and half expected her to become like her own mother.  I believe I was every parent's nightmare of which mine should receive a full pardon of any of their sinful acts alone on the fact that they survived a few years of mine.  
I fool myself at times by thinking somehow I'm responsible for who she is and who she is becoming.  I know I play a piece in that role, but my major star role diminishes daily.  I've become the old actress who no one wants to hire except for when they're desperate. Others have now stepped up to fill the roles that I no longer can. 
 I look at the above picture and feel happy.  I'm happy because she is so happy.  She is happy because she surrounds herself with great people (teenagers and other adult influences) whom she sets as her standard as role models.  I realize as her mother, I am not capable of being everywhere she needs me to be, when she needs me and how she needs me.  But at every turn I can see faces like the ones above who can be and are. There are times she has shared with us of struggles and difficult days and the people who've said the right thing without being consciously aware of her situation, which ultimately helped bring a great change in her.  Who she is and who she is becoming is largely due to the teenagers in her life who are courageous in doing what's right.  They cling together in schools where many others have much different standards. By doing so, they are unified and protect one another yet aren't exclusive to themselves.  They are actively trying to make a difference.  And they are... even if it's with one another.
For those who dread the teenage years, don't assume the worst but expect the best.  They may just be living up to the expectation that was labeled upon them.  The ones who criticize the generation forget who raised it.   

Did you hug a teenager today?? (Just don't do it around their friends)