Letters To Lyla

Dear Lyla,

Tomorrow Dr. Seuss would be celebrating his 109^th birthday. I imagine that on this Friday kindergarten classrooms like yours all over the country will be reading his beloved books. Since a young age his writing has been inextricably linked with your bedtime rituals. Because of Dr. Seuss you have learned that “Unless”; we may lose our precious trees and wildlife. You understand that one should not be afraid of green pants, that leaders must not crack the shells of others for their own gain and that not everyone has stars upon thars, and that’s OK.  I am sure that this will be a special day for you and your friends; that you will delight in hearing your teacher’s melodious voice recite your favorite Seuss stories. Today is special for another reason; it is the first day of March which is Women’s History Month. As you get older you will begin to understand the importance of this month; suffice it to say that men and women have not always been treated equally. I know this may be hard for you to understand because you have been taught to be fair, share with others and treat everyone with kindness. That is how it should be Little One and my hope is that your generation will do its best to ensure that very thing. But history must not be ignored or we are doomed to repeat it. So this month we celebrate the accomplishments of women, the struggles that were fought in the name of fairness and recognize the work that we still have ahead of us. I imagine that the good Doctor (Seuss) might have a few words for your generation on the subject; perhaps he would inspire you with the immortal refrain of “Oh the places you’ll go.” And so you will Little One, so you will.