In a lazy moment today, my 4 year old went over to the cabinet where we keep her albums and chose one from among the 10 I have made chronicling her life. It was no easy feat for someone who weighs just under 35 pounds to pull out her 12x12 album, so I helped her and asked if she wanted to look through it together. We read it like a storybook; a storybook all about her. What better way to build a child's self esteem?
We turned to a page from April of this past year, 2006. It is a happy page, done in various shades of brown. The title, made to look like dogtags, reads," Fuzzy/ Hero". This is the page about my brother's homecoming from the war in Iraq. It was just a short visit, but this was the very first day of that leave, and you know how full the days look ahead on the very first day of a vacation or visit! The pictures show my brother and my daughter interacting, completely blissful to be together again. I didn't have much journaling on the page, and as I finished reading, she leaned over and gave his picture a kiss.
I don't have to tell you how it felt to witness this. There has never been a period of shyness when my daughter sees her Uncle, although they really don't get to spend much time together. I credit this to the pictures she has of them together, having a good time. They keep her familiar with him. The reason he joined the Army in the first place was because of her existance. He wanted her to be able to look up to him. He wanted to make something of his life. Well, he has made something of his life. And not only is his niece proud of him, his whole family is proud.
Scrap Happy
I cried.
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