Friday, September 1, 2017

Grandma's Red Cape

One of Alexis' favorite books is a Chinese one we got from a local non-profit, Tandem, which promotes early reading.  When she turned 18 months, this became her favorite book.  Several of her first words were learned as we read through the book -- like 停 (stop) and 跳 (dance).  I love this book because the basic story is about a father who takes his son to visit grandma who lives in the big city.  




At first he is scared and apprehensive about it, but with some encouragement and with the protection of a red cape she gives him, he learns to have fun and trust his grandmother as she takes him on excursions through the city.




This is particularly meaningful to me because I live with two aching losses in my heart -- my son I lost in 2014 and my mother in 2016.  When I read the story, it reminds me of what would have been a likely situation - dropping off my son to spend time with my mother.  I can imagine his apprehension at being somewhere strange and unfamiliar.  I can imagine her knitting a cape for him and feeding him snacks. I can see him dancing to music, I can see her taking him on many adventures.







When I read this story to Lexi, it's as if I'm telling her about a world that exists parallel to our own - like a window into heaven.  

Someday I will have a better way to explain to Alexis how she isn't our first child, and that she had a grandmother who loved her very much (and is similar to her in so many ways).  But for now, we read this simple story, and she calls the boy in the story, "ge-ge" (older brother) and the woman "nai-nai" (dad's mother), and I get to think about the loves in my life I have lost.  And then I proceed to hold my daughter a bit tighter.