Scaredy Squirrel

I've known my friend Angie since third grade. I was new at school, and we got on and off at the same neighborhood bus stop. She remains to this day the kind of person any of you would feel lucky to know. She's genuinely interested in your story, and always has a tale of her own to tell, with refreshing perspective to boot.

Anyhow, last week Angie stopped by with a little surprise for Vivian and me. Knowing of my love of squirrels, she gave us the book Scaredy Squirrel. It's the story of a squirrel who never leaves his nut tree for fear of things like germs, sharks and green martians. One day his worst fear comes true: a killer bee appears, forcing him to face his fear of the world beyond his nut tree. And as he jumps to escape said killer bee, he surprises himself by feeling "overjoyed!", "adventurous!", "carefree!" and "alive!" He lands in the unknown "inspired to make drastic changes in his life."

And so, as much as I adore little squirrel friends, who knew that I would glean such a lovely life lesson from this story's protagonist? Jumping into the unknown is scary--but the leap can bring a multitude of blessings, including hope.

Which brings me to something Angie said while she was here. Something I keep replaying in my mind because it struck such a chord with me: when you're afraid, it's hard to have hope. But where fear is absent, hope can exist. And hope is a wonderful thing. I've had some dark, dark days without any hope on the horizon. But these days hope is much more likely to be filling my heart. Fear's on the back burner a lot of the time. That feels good.

Thanks, Ang, for the gift of Scaredy Squirrel and for the gift of your words.