A'Lyrical Symphony

My first core memory was of me a the park with my dad, I was around 4 at the time. There were a couple of little girls there and boys playing football. I remember one girl with blonde hair, a little older than me with freckles and glasses walking up to me and asking me my name. I told her my name is A'Lyrical Symphony at which she laughed and told me that I have a stupid name because no symphony have lyrics. I dropped my head so that she wouldn't see my tears but before any came out, I felt a strong grip on my shoulder. "If you listen to a symphony close enough, lyrics will come to you," my dad said as he smiled down at me and lifted my head. "A queen never bows her head. Look," he said as he pointed to the group of girls at the jungle gym, "They look nice." His words, although confusing, were always helpful. Even after he died, I could still hear his words of encouragement guiding me to be the best me I could be. I really wish he was here to help me through life. Everything seemed so far away and out of touch and for a long time, I had no one to talk to or anything to talk about. I went mute for over a year. Even the thought of me speaking made me want to breakdown, so I just stopped all together. For the first couple of days after my dad died, I spoke to no one. I felt like no one understood me or cared enough to reach out and actually try to understand me. No one but Damani and Damanique. They didn't care that I didn't talk. They thought I was funny. They cared.