These Girls.

I'm assembling and organizing all of my pictures from the year, and it keeps hitting me: these children are beautiful. Especially the girls.

One of the saddest things for me is to look at the girls, and then look at their mothers, and think that before long, they will look as tired as they do. Most of the mothers are fairly young, but the sun, stress, poor health, and lots of work have not been kind to them. They are wrinkled, their hands are torn and callused, their skin pock-marked, their bodies overweight or their backs bent. Some of the mothers are my age, but they look at least five years older than me. I hope time is kind to my girls.

Then there are the girls who will choose to make themselves up and dress in ways they shouldn't for their age. The ones who will disrespect their bodies. The ones who will get pregnant in high school. The girls who might get pregnant before I do, even though they're 12 years younger than me.

But for now, they are beautiful, and I hope they stay beautiful.