There once was a girl who had energy and spark despite being painfully shy; she  was silly and funny, she wanted more than anything to perform but was told that her dreams were just that; dreams.

There once was a girl who loved to roller skate, and swim, and dance; she wanted to learn to play the piano, and the flute, and be a gymnast like her dad but was repeatedly told "no!" That girl had compassion for those less fortunate but was chided with with a constant refrain of  "Why do you have to be so nice?" and, "Why does everyone like you?" As if those are things to be ashamed of.

There once was a girl who had friends of all backgrounds and colors, she didn't understand the hate and the jokes about people that weren't "white." She was often asked why she "...couldn't hang out with better people..." because she was told that her friends weren't good enough or smart enough.

There once was a girl who wanted to become a professional photographer but was told by many people that she had no talent or skill and should just find some other hobby.

There once was a girl that fell in love with a boy, but they were young and those feelings were hard to understand and the two of them fell apart.

There once was a girl who fell in love, this time it was for the long haul, but he lied and cheated and broke her spirit. Her heart was shattered, her spark long since dimmed to barely a flicker, moving forward seemed like a herculean effort one in which she had no energy for even lifting her foot to take a step.

There once was a girl who raised two tiny humans who now are now phenomenal adults.

There once was a girl who realized that she was no longer a girl despite how she was treated by those that she thought loved her. The condemnation, blame, lies, crushing comments, and being treated like girl who was incapable of making her own decisions, once she was able to put all that on a shelf and walk away, she began to heal.  Very slowly; teeny tiny steps towards being a whole person. With every few steps she could look back and see how far she'd come, feeling as if she could look ahead and almost see the finish line.  One day she realized that she had come so much farther than she thought she had needed to, that the pit she was crawling out of was so much deeper and darker than she'd realized, yet with grit and perseverance she began to emerge from it's dark, sticky, fingerlike grasp.

There once was a girl whose body paid a heavy price for all she had to carry; it was if each nasty thing said to her literally became a weight on her tiny shoulders. She tried to stand up straight but it was all too much to bear; the weight of it all made it so hard to hold her head high and look people in the eye. She felt as if she shrunk back enough she could become invisible because that was how she felt, invisible, nonexistent, unworthy.

There now stands a woman who faces each day with a smile and "Good morning, God!" She loves fiercely, laughs frequently, cries unabashedly, and is so astonished by the darkness and depth of that pit that she crawled out of. That woman now wonders just how far she'll go now that she is back on sunny solid ground. Now she can look back at the ones who tried to crush her, the ones who threw callous accusations at her, the ones who took advantage of her weaknesses by trying to further crush her spirit...now she can look back with pity at those people because she realizes the pit they are trying to crawl out of but don't realize it. 

There once was a girl who is still that girl but now appears as a mature woman, and like that lighthouse perched on a cliff, she holds her her head as high as possible and lets her spark burn as a beacon of light on a dark night.