The latest…

Recently, I was in the yard with McCanless and began my usual pity party. I was almost in tears watching her run all over the yard in her little pumpkin dress, and thought that surely by tomorrow she will be graduating from med school 😉 and married by the end of the weekend and my life will be over. My prissy tomboy toddler will be grown and gone forever. My bow laden chatterbox sidekick will no longer need me. Then with her scratched knees and disheveled hair (yet another bow lost) she walked right up to one of our very old, very tall pine trees. She began at the base of the tree and slowly began to follow the bark right up to the top. She threw her head back, arched her back and pointed her dainty finger as if to trace each branch.

In that instant, I realized how tiny my precious “big girl” really is. Her little body was staring up at the massive tree. She seemed so small and fragile at that moment. I wanted to scoop her up and hold her and protect her from the big giant world.

I ran up to scoop her up as my “daydream” had allowed. I wanted to hold her and never let go, I wanted to stop the clock… but she heard me coming. She sheepishly grinned at me and took off running as fast as she could, assuming that I was playing chase, as we so often do. As she giggled and yelled, “Can’t catch, can’t catch,” I laughed and played her game. I always let her think that mommy just can’t catch up with her. Suddenly our game of chase ended with a tree stump, a scratched knee and a face full of dirt. My “big girl” needed me. As I scooped up the screaming mass of pumpkin dress, legs and sweaty hair, I realized that my “big girl” really isn’t growing up too fast. She will still need me for a while to come.

Besides, who else can apply pink elephant “BanG-aids” in just the right spot?