♪
Hey Mom.
Let me read this to you
I need to tell you something.
Sit down for a minute.
This will not take long.
There is a song you have loved
for as long as I can remember.
Don't Worry, Be Happy.
Bobby McFerrin. 1988.
You hummed it in the kitchen.
You sang it in the car
when you thought nobody was listening.
You played it when the house felt heavy
and needed something light.
You probably do not know I remember that.
I remember everything.
I know you worry about me, Mom.
That is what you do.
You have done it my whole life.
You worry if I am eating.
If I am sleeping.
If I am happy.
If I am going to be okay.
And there were times I was not.
Mom.
I am okay.
And I want to show you why.
I built something.
219,394
Lines of instructions
written by hand
257
Separate files
all connected together
82
Pages people can visit
on the internet right now
6
Days to build
the main platform
That is like writing a book.
Then writing fifty more.
By myself. In less than a week.
Cities spend $12 billion every year
painting over graffiti.
I built a system that takes that money
and pays artists instead.
Everyone wins. That is the whole idea.
It starts in Salt Lake City.
Then Tokyo.
Then everywhere the walls are waiting.
But that is not why I am telling you this.
I built this because of you.
You taught me that the people who have the least
deserve someone fighting for them the most.
You gave me your stubbornness.
The kind that gets back up
before the bruise has even formed.
You gave me your heart.
The one that breaks for strangers
and calls it love.
You gave me your voice.
The one that does not stay quiet
when something is not right.
Every wall that gets painted.
Every artist that gets paid.
Every kid who finds a path
they did not know existed.
That is yours too, Mom.
Because you raised the one who built it.
So the next time you hear that song...
Don't worry.
Be happy.
Your son is building something beautiful.
And every part of it
has your fingerprints on it.
Through God, this was created.
Through you, I was.
I love you, Mom.
— Elliott
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