... a boy who could not wait to be old enough to play pee wee football... that boy whose helmet was as big as he was and whose shoulder pads weighed as much as he did. The boy who was big enough to take the hits and small enough to kiss me goodnight.
... snuggly pajama days in the dead of winter with that boy and his sisters... working through school books and snuggling together under a blanket sipping hot cocoa and reading... lots and lots of reading.
... a girl who has spent over half of her lifetime dressing her American Girl dolls... doing their hair... entering a world of her own make believe... old enough to do it herself and young enough to play pretend.
... cold mornings awakening to the excitement of children in snow clothes standing by my bed pleading for a chance to go sledding before breakfast and school... watching them scramble to get out the door and listening to their early morning giggles.
... waking to find a small warm body next to mine and having no recollection of when that sweet smelling child climbed into our bed but knowing if I quietly pulled her to me and snuggled her close we would both get a little more sleep... a little one big enough to find me in the dark and small enough to fit between us.
... looking out my bedroom window to see small bodies in pjs and flip flops picking their own breakfast from the berry patch... thrilled to be big enough to go out by themselves and yet small enough to come in with more berry on their faces and hands than in their small containers.
I store these memories because time waits for no one. The girl is no longer in love with her American Girl Dolls and the little one grew up and stopped crawling in my bed a long time ago. And the boy... he plays high school football now.
My mind stored another mental picture in my memory vault this morning... a big guy climbing out of my truck with a grumbled "see ya Mom." No longer the little boy swallowed up by helmet and pads but still young enough to be driven to practice.
...and my mind recalled a boy in pjs having berries for breakfast.
Heidi,
ReplyDeleteIt's so wonderful to write these memories down. What a treasure they are right now and will be one day even more to your children. Hugs to you!
Just stopping by to say I'm thinking of you, Heidi!
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