Work in progress
Preface
As I sit in the Department Store with my best friend, I lean down to see her little face. We sit together in the shoe department trying to find the right tennis shoes for her. She didn’t want the Lion King ones, or the Cinderella ones. No, she wanted the Jasmine and Aladdin ones. She wanted those particular shoes because she wanted to be able to know that I bought those shoes and by seeing the black hair, she knew she could remember. She said to me “I want those shoes!” but in dismay, there were none in her size. So here we are and I’m waiting for her to finish her sulking, as cute as it is, before we go on to a new aisle.
She has always been so cheerful and happy all the time. Even in the morning when it’s still cold out and I still want to be sleeping she’s bouncing around, completely unaware that almost everyone else is asleep and grumpy. I call her my personal sun; she’s so cheery and joyful all the time. When I have to do something or I am gloomy, she’s right beside me and nearly bursting with exuberance. She really is my best friend even though our ages, and alarm times, differ greatly.
I tilt my head over to hers for she is whispering something to me. I hear her sadness as she explains the inappropriate sizing of that pair of princess themed tennis shoes “Those ones don’t fit. And, you look like the princess, but they don’t fit. The lion ones fit, but you don’t look like the lion. I want shoes with you on them! But they don’t fit.”
“They will, Heather. In a few years or even months, they will. And your feet are going to get big enough to fit in those shoes. I promise that we will get you them when your feet are big enough. It won’t take long though, so you don’t have to wait too much since your growing like I put Miracle Grow on you every night.” I replied, my voice full of hope, as I tried to lift my personal sun out of her depression.
I had kept my head by hers and whispered to her with excitement “You know, I’ll tell you a story on the way home. Do you want to go get another pair of shoes with a different princess on them? You pick out the story of which princess you want me to tell you.”
“Ok. I guess so. Can we get the Snow White ones instead?”
“Certainly, is that the story for today too my princess?” I replied as if I had jumped out of Snow White myself and stood up.
I held out my hand like a driver of a coach and she took it happily, smiling up at my change of voice. “Yes it is, my prince!” As I said, she’s my little sun.
And with that, we waltz off to the aisle with Snow White. By the time we get to the checkout, she’s back to normal. The five-minute depression over Jasmine is a distant memory to her. We make our way out of the store and she has to go to the bathroom, so we go in and end up changing her shoes while we’re inside.
When we get into my car, I go to her side of the backseat and buckle her into the car seat. My sun is still ecstatic over her shoes and examines them with such meticulousness that it would be easy to believe her life depends on knowing what they look like.
I start the car and Heather reminds me to “Buckle up cowgirl!” just like she always has. The car purrs to life and she pipes up saying to me that I’d better start the story soon or we’ll be home first. I think that I have Snow White memorized by now. I don’t need that much concentration to remember what happens. I finish just as we pull into the driveway and she applauded because I got the story right and put in the right voices for all the correct times.
I got out and went to unbuckle her. She’s patiently waiting for me and jumps out of the car as soon as I’m done. We walk into the house hand in hand. She’s carrying the shoebox with her old shoes inside, ready for her favorite joke of all time; saying “I got new shoes; want to see ‘um? Here they are!” but the old ones are inside instead. I think she has done it so many times that she would get tired of doing it repeatedly, but there she goes to show off her new shoes.
She has always been so cheerful and happy all the time. Even in the morning when it’s still cold out and I still want to be sleeping she’s bouncing around, completely unaware that almost everyone else is asleep and grumpy. I call her my personal sun; she’s so cheery and joyful all the time. When I have to do something or I am gloomy, she’s right beside me and nearly bursting with exuberance. She really is my best friend even though our ages, and alarm times, differ greatly.
I tilt my head over to hers for she is whispering something to me. I hear her sadness as she explains the inappropriate sizing of that pair of princess themed tennis shoes “Those ones don’t fit. And, you look like the princess, but they don’t fit. The lion ones fit, but you don’t look like the lion. I want shoes with you on them! But they don’t fit.”
“They will, Heather. In a few years or even months, they will. And your feet are going to get big enough to fit in those shoes. I promise that we will get you them when your feet are big enough. It won’t take long though, so you don’t have to wait too much since your growing like I put Miracle Grow on you every night.” I replied, my voice full of hope, as I tried to lift my personal sun out of her depression.
I had kept my head by hers and whispered to her with excitement “You know, I’ll tell you a story on the way home. Do you want to go get another pair of shoes with a different princess on them? You pick out the story of which princess you want me to tell you.”
“Ok. I guess so. Can we get the Snow White ones instead?”
“Certainly, is that the story for today too my princess?” I replied as if I had jumped out of Snow White myself and stood up.
I held out my hand like a driver of a coach and she took it happily, smiling up at my change of voice. “Yes it is, my prince!” As I said, she’s my little sun.
And with that, we waltz off to the aisle with Snow White. By the time we get to the checkout, she’s back to normal. The five-minute depression over Jasmine is a distant memory to her. We make our way out of the store and she has to go to the bathroom, so we go in and end up changing her shoes while we’re inside.
When we get into my car, I go to her side of the backseat and buckle her into the car seat. My sun is still ecstatic over her shoes and examines them with such meticulousness that it would be easy to believe her life depends on knowing what they look like.
I start the car and Heather reminds me to “Buckle up cowgirl!” just like she always has. The car purrs to life and she pipes up saying to me that I’d better start the story soon or we’ll be home first. I think that I have Snow White memorized by now. I don’t need that much concentration to remember what happens. I finish just as we pull into the driveway and she applauded because I got the story right and put in the right voices for all the correct times.
I got out and went to unbuckle her. She’s patiently waiting for me and jumps out of the car as soon as I’m done. We walk into the house hand in hand. She’s carrying the shoebox with her old shoes inside, ready for her favorite joke of all time; saying “I got new shoes; want to see ‘um? Here they are!” but the old ones are inside instead. I think she has done it so many times that she would get tired of doing it repeatedly, but there she goes to show off her new shoes.