Loving Maddie ...

 

 It is so rare ...

to find a person,

with a soul, a heart and an imagination;

so rare for characters as ardent and restless

as ours to meet and to be matched together,

that I hardly know how to tell you

what happiness it gives me to know you.

Hector Berlioz

There is criticism in reference to the next generation, but I think that is always the case.  We do our selves a favor by remembering that much of what we read is reporting on the negative or extreme behaviors of only a small percentage of the next generation.  I have the privilege of being around the other percentage of the next generation and I know the future is safely being placed into their out stretched and willing hands.

And so Maddie is turning 21 while on a summer college mission trip traveling through foreign countries I will personally never see.  She is well prepared as she has built in compassion, curiosity, and an open heart. 

One might not notice her in the group as she can be rather reserved, but her deep rich brown eyes would hold you still.

Her thick dark curly hair frequently hides her intriguing beauty while her glasses tend to hide the intensity of her thoughts lurking behind those eyes.

Maddie is attending college on an athletic scholarship, and her intelligence is readily noticeable.  She is mature beyond her age although playful in spirit.  Her intensity is not just about learning, but more about understanding.  She desires to dig deeper, beyond the surface to discover the roots to any of life's behaviors.  She seems to have a diligent desire to truly understand any given situation either to enhance it or to remove it.

Reading books is a shared interest Maddie and I have.  She is eager to share what she has discovered and whether or not she agrees. Much to my delight, she has also shared her poetry with me which reflects the depth of her feelings and her yearning to understand all of life.  Her choice in words and phrases builds a lovely cadence to support her emotions and observations.

Chances are good you will never meet Maddie, but you can be assured that it is safe to place the future in her most capable hands.  There are many more like her in this new generation, but Maddie happens to be the one that has touched my heart and brought me both hope and happiness when things went dark.