Monday, August 27, 2007

How She Sounds

My sister's cat had kittens about six and a half weeks ago, they are not gonna be hanging around her house for much longer. She hopes. Which, by the way, if you live in Utah Valley and want a darling wee kitty for free (even comes spayed for free)... drop me an email. There are two left. I promised the Sis, I'd do my part to find homes for the fuzzies.

That was my part, the end.

We will never have a cat, as Dadguy is horrifically allergic to 'em; we make do with visiting OPK. Other People's Kitties. So this morning the girls and I were all loaded in the van, flying down the freeway to visit the short-timers. I was trying to listen to my favorite playlist with the volume turn low, and only the front speakers engaged. I do this because Birdie loves my playlist and rock n' roll in general, and if she hears it, she will ask me to turn on the back speakers. But she insists on having it loud and LaLa does not approve. In fact LaLa will scream bloody murder that the music "HOOTS MAH EE-AHS!" The fact that she screams it five or six decibels louder than the volume of music, doesn't seem to make much difference to her. Logic and three year olds; or should I say logic and LaLa. Hmph.

To be fair, LaLa came out of the womb with a strong preference in music. Unfortunately, that preference does not include my singing. One of her first words ever was "No!" and it was in response to me singing. When that didn't do the trick, she moved on to "THTOOOOOOOOP!"

This morning though, Birdie was thinking.

"Mama.... I have two moms and two dads huh?"

"No baby, you have one mom and one dad."

"But I have two Grandma's and two Grandpa's?"

"Yup, one set's from Daddy, and one from me."

"But I also have Grandma Duke?"

"Yes," I said, "you have Grandma and Grandpa Duke, but they are your GREAT Grandparents."

"Oh. Yeah and Grandma Francis."

Driving and thinking how sad I am that my girls will never know my own Grandparents, especially my maternal GP's, Granny and Pa. My Granny died when Birdie was just barely two, and her sweetheart, Pa, went a short nine months later. I loved my Granny.

"Plus my Granny and Pa, and my Grnadma and Grandpa B, but they are all dead." I say to her.

"Oh! Yeah, I remember Granny!" she squeals.

"You do?" This surprises me. Thinking she has a specific memory I ask, "what do you remember about Granny?"

I remember how she looks and I remember her voice when she speaks!"

"How do you remember that?"

"The Holy Ghost helps me to remember how she sounds. I remember her!"

"That's wonderful baby... I am so glad you can remember." I swallow past the tight spot in my throat; I blink rapidly to see the road. I miss my Granny, but I can remember too.

11 comments:

Bob said...

Nobody's Girl will take one of the kitten's. Do you deliver?

My grandparents all died more than 10 years ago. Mrs Nobody missed out on meeting Grandma Nobody, which is sad. She was one of a kind, but I think they would have liked each other. She's the only grandparent that I can say I truly miss, and not just because she made the world's best rhubarb pie.

Thinking about her now gives me an idea for a post I should do sometime.

shoeaddict said...

Awwww, that's so sweet. But, where does she think her "other" parents are? I love seeing how kids' minds work.

Anonymous said...

How sweet....Don't you love it when you know you are teaching you kids the right things, and they are really listening!

Fantastagirl said...

Kitties? No room at this Inn. Sorry!

Perhaps Grandma and Grandpa have come to her in a dream. It's amazing what kids think of...

Mama D said...

That Birdie is a gem.

the Dread Pirate Rackham said...

I just took a spare kitty - aw well.

I love listening to what my girls know. They are so smart and so interesting. Yours are too.

The Absent Minded Housewife said...

When I was little I found it confusing that other kids had two sets of grandparents. I only had one set. (My Mom never knew her mother and her father passed away before I was born.) I had a great grandma who I only met once that I remember before she died. She was more mythic figure than anything. All my grandparents are gone now.

What's funny is that when my oldest was between the ages of 2 and 4 he often spoke to my great grandma. Sure, she'd been dead since I was 11 and I'd never mentioned her existence, but he held conversations with her nonetheless. I thought it was freaky at first, but I think it's neat now.

Anonymous said...

Oh, that is so sweet. My eyes are stinging now too.

Anonymous said...

Wow, I thought it was very rare for kids her age to have great garnadparents that were still alive. Maybe it is where I live where people have kids in their mid to late 30s - the great grandparents are usually long gone by then. It is wonderful she has so much family, and family she remembers via te holy ghost too!

sari said...

I think that's a nice thing.

We (the boys and I) never met my mother in law, she was very sick when my husband and I started dating and died the year before we were married (she had alzheimers).

Our boys talk about her though and how someday they'll meet her and that always makes me feel good.

sari said...

Oh and I can't tell you how many times I've heard "Mom, can you *please* stop singing?"