The last of the lists is from the first and original of the grandkids. Ezra made me a mammy. He made up the name “Mammy”, as I was originally thinking about Marmie, like the beloved Marmie in Little Women. But Ezra came into the world, big and loud and perfect and that’s the way I love him. My love is big and loud and with my whole heart. His list was the last to be read as we celebrated Mother’s Day and he kept saying “Oh, I shoulda’ put that!” during the other readings. Meanwhile, Eliza Jane, 6, began to cry during the reading of Ezra’s list, because she thought “…you like everyone else’s list better than mine.”
Kids!…(Especially kids when they are siblings.) They could not know that every list was just exactly the right one.
My favorite one on Ezra’s list? Of course, I love the “Bible studies” one. But the fishing one evokes some pretty big memories…and the cleaning/cooking of some pretty small bream. (Last time, he caught a large-mouth bass. But that little bass’ mouth was almost bigger than all the rest of him.) Fishing is “our thing”…just Ezra and me. The others are sometimes along. But Ezra’s the one who’s all up in my personal space while we’re baiting, unhooking, and releasing the turtles. His line is often over mine, especially if he saw I was getting a bite. His hook is often in the trees. He’s the first to see if somebody is in “our spot.” His voice is big and excited and it carries on the water.
He can have all my personal space. Also, I think I would not clean catfish for anyone but Ezra.
She’s the middle child in her family. She’s not as demanding as her older brother or as loud and funny as her younger sister. She’s the one who says “That’s okay. She can have it,” or “Let him go first.” She usually remembers to say “thank-you.” But she cries when her feelings are hurt. Yesterday at the optometrist, she cried because she has to have glasses, while her brother, excitedly (and that’s an understated term) picked out his frames for glasses that he was not destined (after the exam) to need (or buy). She’s the one who comes over twice a week to do phonics and math with me. We have bonded over dyslexia, among many other things. She has a high IQ, centered in a brain that is a-typically figured. And all of that makes her wonderful. But the most wonderful thing about her is her determination to love God and go to heaven, She has a weekly date with Papa for breakfast and she orders the exact same thing every week. She takes piano lessons and loves every kind of card or board game, as well as the trampoline. She loves tiny little collections of toys and bracelets and charms and she loves very soft stuffed animals. She’s hoping for a canopy for her bed one day and room darkening curtains. She’s a mess. Here’s her Mother’s Day “Mammy list”. I will treasure it. (I also love how she put in tiny little letters at the end “Oh, and Papa is good, too.” That’s how she lives her life…ever thoughtful and inclusive.)
