An Open Letter to the Girls who Bully Alexis
Thank you! No, really, I mean that. Thank
you. Because if it weren’t for you – if it weren’t for the pain you
intentionally inflicted and your desire to break one particular human spirit,
the rest of us in this world might never have met such an incredible young
lady.
I was so angry when I saw the passionate
post her Mama wrote. Reading about your behavior sent me spiraling back to the days when I
watched my own daughter get bullied. It made me furious to think of another child so close to my home going through the same thing. Except I wasn’t as courageous as this Mama; I just sat
quietly. I encouraged my daughter to let it go and watched her get more and
more sullen and depressed because those girls never let up. I made a mistake back then. Mamas need to stand up. Because when one Mama stands up, other Mamas stand up with her.
I pray that you realize it’s
time to let up.
Then I started reading more about Alexis.
Learning who she is --- and my anger quickly gave way to something else: awe.
I
want to introduce to you this beautiful daughter of mine,
her mom wrote.
And what an amazing girl we were introduced
to!
We read about how Alexis is a talented
cartoonist, has an amazing voice, and is full of spunk and spirit, always
trying to make others smile. So many of us don’t have half that talent or near
that bright approach to life.
We read about the inner strength of this
child who has grown up without a father, who has mourned the loss of a sibling,
and who is being monitored for a heart condition. Let me tell you: that there is a
strength most of us couldn’t imagine enduring, and yet picture after picture
shows her smiling and laughing.
And still, there was so much more to
Alexis:
She runs marathons to raise money for
special causes. At just 13 years old.
She volunteers to wrap Christmas gifts for
free at the mall. At just 13 years old.
She volunteers to work at fundraisers. At
just 13 years old.
She’s active in her church. At just 13
years old.
As I read, just as thousands – yes, thousands of others read along
with me – I quickly came to the realization that this is no ordinary child.
This is a girl with a purpose in life that far exceeds the standard middle
school expectations.
Alexis has a passion for animals and, with
her skills of giving CPR and IV fluids, has rescued and saved animals for
years.
At this point I’m thinking this would be
enough. This would be enough to make me so proud if she were my daughter! I
would be so proud to simply come in contact with this precious gift of a child
who makes what I do pale in comparison.
And yet her passion extends even further
with her desire to find ways to fight against and put a final end to Yulin.
Yulin? I had to admit – I had no idea what
Yulin even was.
And here’s where I thank you again. See, I
– along with the thousands of other people who were introduced to Alexis, were
exposed to something we may never would have been.
I learned that Yulin is a festival in China
each year – a grotesque, demeaning, awful dog meat carnival. (I’m warning you,
Googling it will result in traumatizing photos.)
There are worldwide petitions and activists
determined to stop this atrocity from happening – yet here I was, complacent in
my little world of comings and goings and coffee dates with friends that I
never even knew it existed. Alexis taught us something. She pulled open the
curtain and shined a light on something important that God placed on her heart. We should all be so lucky to have such an
audience like the one she has today.
We're impressed by her. In awe of her. We have respect for her. We’re
excited to see what else she can teach us, how she will decide to use her voice
and undoubtedly how she will work to improve our world.
Thank you. Thank you for allowing all of us to be introduced to Alexis. Because we think she’s incredible. A shining light for our future. And we're so thankful that she's here.
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