My Birthday Alarm popped up on my computer the other day with a first reminder that Meg’s birthday is coming up next week. Meg is Henri’s Mama. She’s also the little girl on the floor with her chin cupped in her hands making the funny face in the photo. She was about 5 years old in the photo. Next week she’ll be 36.
When I mentioned this milestone to Grams she said, “YE GAWDS AND LITTLE FISHES!!! When did that happen?!?” You see, when Grams dreams about her children; they’re still little. She doesn’t consciously think of them that way, but she does hold them close to her heart that way. They’re still her little girls.
Of course, times change. The one standing in the photo, ‘Bekah, is now an assistant U.S. Attorney. The one sitting up, mouth agape is Rachel. She’s the mummy of Andie and Bean. She has a degree in social work. And the little one is Meg. She has a degree in Italian Folklore (don’t get Grams started on that one), and is, of course, the mummy of Henri.
The photo was one of a series taken by their then-neighbour, Gene Cheltenham. He’s an artist and he was teaching himself photography. Every once in a while he’d ask Grams and/or the kiddies to sit for him so he could practice lighting techniques. If he had them all there, he had to provide Grams with a glass of wine, well a few glasses of wine.
Now if she starts thinking about how Meg will be 36 in a week; then she will naturally think about how Rachel and Rebekah will be 38 in a month. Let’s see, that would make Grams . . . I think that I’d better go fix her a Key Lime martini.
Please give what you can to Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders).
And, of course
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