During the month of April, we take time to recognize the children of military families. These children are a special breed, as they face more changes and challenges than most people do in a lifetime. They develop a strong sense of resilience and adaptability as they move from one duty station to another. They are proud of our country and the people who serve it. They learn to navigate long-distance relationships when one or both of their parents are deployed far away. The symbol representing these brave children is the dandelion because the winds scatter them worldwide, but they continue to grow hardy and resilient. I want to share a short story I wrote for my little dandelion in honor of military children worldwide. I encourage you to pass along this story to your military friends and family. It is my heartfelt wish that this narrative, filled with hope and resilience, brings as much joy to your children as it did to mine.
The Curious Dandelion: A Tale of Friendship and Kindness
Once upon a time, in a bustling new city, a tiny dandelion lived in the lonely crack of a sidewalk next to an elementary school. The dandelion, always curious about the world around it, would watch the children play during recess, yearning for a friend of its own.
One sunny day, as the little dandelion danced in the breeze, it spotted a new girl with honey-colored hair playing at recess near the fence that separated the sidewalk from the school. The honey-haired girl was playing with a blade of grass in her hand and was all alone. The curious dandelion overheard the kids talking about her. She had just moved here with her family. Her daddy is in the military, so they move around a lot. When the little girl saw the dandelion swaying gently in the wind, she smiled and said hello. The dandelion's heart filled with joy at this unexpected friendship.
The little dandelion was filled with joy when the little girl said hello. But then, another girl with brown hair and a mean smirk walked up and said, "Who are you talking to?" The honey-haired girl, feeling shy, replied, "To the little flower." The mean girl laughed, declaring, "That's a weed, not a flower!" and threw a rock at the dandelion. All the other kids laughed and teased the honey-haired girl. The dandelion felt a pang of sadness seeing how hurt the little girl was and wished it could make her feel better.
The honey-haired girl sat by the fence at school every day, talking to the little dandelion at recess. It was the middle of May, and there hadn't been any rain in weeks. The girl noticed that the dandelion had begun to wilt, so she poured water from her water bottle onto the flower. "You must be thirsty; you can have some of my water," she said warmly.
A sandy-haired boy noticed her and asked what she was doing. She told him she was giving her friend a drink of water. He looked at the weed and then back at her. After a moment, he asked if he could try. The honey-haired girl happily said yes.
The boy and girl became fast friends. They now played together every day during recess and always remember to stop by and say hello to their flowery friend. The little dandelion felt a burst of happiness seeing the honey-haired girl and sandy-haired boy playing and having fun together.
Just before school ended, the dandelion flower underwent a remarkable change. It was no longer a single yellow flower. It had blossomed into a fairy-like flower, a symbol of the friendship and kindness it had witnessed. The honey-haired girl proudly showed all the kids that the flower had changed during recess; even the mean girl who had teased the honey-haired girl thought it was magical. The dandelion's magical seeds blew away with the wind, spreading the message of friendship and kindness and sending dandelion seeds out into the world to make more new friends.
