Hello Friends,

In April, I shared writing by Olivia Barhlage of a beautiful tribute to Columbine High School. I hope all of you had the opportunity to read it. As I told you, there would be two more of her writings I wanted to share. Rachel's inspirational story has so much to do with her treating people with real compassion and kindness. This writing by Olivia deals with those very issues and it was written for her own daughter whose name was also Rachel. I believe you will be

THE TURNING OF THE TABLES

I'm Popular Now, I'm With The In Crowd. So I Can't Say That I Like You, Not Out Loud. Cause I'm Popular Now, I Fit Right In. And You're A Nobody, A Real Has Been.

And Even Though, We'd Been Friends For Years, Words I Now Speak To You, Will Bring Only Tears. Because I'm Popular Now, And That's What We Do. We Put Others Down, Others Like You.

You'll Want To Have Fun, Too, You'll Wish You Were Cool. But We'll Just Put You Down, And Make You Out As A Fool. You'll Feel So Lonely, You'll Be In Despair, And No One Will Noitice, No One Will Care.

We'll Make Fun Of You, Each And Every Day. We'll Make You Wonder, Just Why Do You Pray? Cause You Pray For Release, From All Of This Hurt. As The Taunting Continues, As You're Treated Like Dirt.

No Longer Can I Be Your Friend. Because Of The Clothes That You Wear, You Don't Follow The Trend. You'll Try To Fit In, To Join The Fun. But You'll Get The Cold Shoulder, You We Will Shun.

Then One Day, When We Are All Grown, I'll Give You A Call, Upon The Phone. I'll Say That I'm Sorry, For Not Helping You Belong. You Say Stat's Ok, It Helped You Grow Strong.

We'll Talk Of The Good Times, Though For You, They Were Few. Because I Became Popular, Turned My Back On You. But That Didn't Stop You From Growing Up Right. Cause Somehow You Learned, To Fight The Good Fight.

You Taught Your Children, Just How To Behave. That If Others Were Mistreated, They'd Have To Be Brave. They Have To Stand Up To Others Like Me. To Ease Other's Pain, And Help Them To See.

Help Them To See We Can All Be A Friend. Help Them To Know, You'll Be A Friend To The End. You Taught Them To Help, If Someone's In Need. How Very Ironic, It Was My Child Indeed.

My Child Who Ended Up, Not Fitting In. I Can Feel My Child's Pain, How Awful It's Been. Now I Know How It Feels, The Tables Are Turned. I Feel So Helpless; It's My Child Getting Burned.

If Only I'd Realize, How To Treat One Another. As We're All God's Children, We're Sister And Brother. Then Maybe This Generation Wouldn't Hurt Each Other. This Child That Is Hurting, I Am Their Mother.

Now I Know Of The Pain, Hurtful Words Can Do. As It's My Child In Pain, Eased By A Child Of You. Cause You Taught Your Child, Just How To Behave. It Was Your Child Alone, Who Made My Child So Brave.

Your Child Befriended, The Poorest Of Soul. Your Child Who Taught Mine, To Reach For A Goal. Your Child Who's Popular, But In A Different Way. Your Child Made Popular, Not By What They Say.

Your Child Who Taught Others, Just How To Be Strong. Your Child Who Makes Others, Feel Like They Belong. Your Child Who Will Change, The Way We All Should Be. Your Child Will Make, All Of Us See.

Your Child Will Tell Others, God Doesn't Make Junk. That In Order To Belong, You Don't Have To Be A Punk. Your Child Who Brought Smiles, To My Child's Sad Little Face. Your Child Who Taught Mine, Or Honor And Grace.

I'll Tell You Again, How Sorry I've Been. For Not Giving You A Chance. To Treat Others Right, To Take You Own Stance, Show Others The Way. God Wants Us To Live. Learn Not To Take, Only To Give.

You Can Change The World, Just Give It A Try. By Not Hurting Others, And Making Them Cry, It Doesn't Take That Much To Go That Extra Mile. Find The Loneliest Kid, And Give Them A Smile.

Cause Life Has A Way To Turn Tables On You. And Getting You Back, For Mean Things You Do. It's Up To You, From This Day On. To Treat Others As Equals, Before Life Is Gone.

Used By Permission From:
Olivia Barhalage
Jefferson City, Mo