We all woke up in the middle of last night as the house got a good shake or two from passing thunderstorms.
“It’s a funderstorm,” Declan told us, confidently.
For some reason the weather made him very alert at three in the morning. He requested that he be able to play with a puzzle, take a purple bath, watch “Little Einsteins” and see the moon. The three of us opted to drink tea, sit by the window and look out at the rain together, trying to explain why “funderstorms” obscure our lunar view.
When I complained that I was hungry, he asked me for a “shiny red apple.” We went to the kitchen and cut one up for him. Before I could get something else for myself, he made me take a bite of one of th
e slices.
“Is that better, mommy?” he asked me.
In that moment, he reminded me so much of my little brother, Andy, who possessed that breed of kindness from his earliest days as a blonde-haired moppet. Lately, he I get those childhood reminders on lots of days, like our visit to Inniswood park earlier in the week, when I had to swoop Declan up into my arms to stop him from picking a flower for me.
Life soundtrack: Eddie Rabbit, All Time Greatest Hits, “I Love a Rainy Night”
Copyright Tracy Zollinger Turner, Tinymantras.com, 2008