A Letter to Shelly in the Middle-Night After Graduation
Draw a crazy picture,
Write a nutty poem,
Sing a mumble-gumble song,
Whistle through your comb.
Do a loony-goony dance
'Cross the kitchen floor,
Put something silly in the world
That ain't been there before."
-Shel Silverstein
Dear Snugglebunny of the pink, footed pajamas:
I couldn't sleep for thinking of you tonight. I hope you're having a good time with your friends: high on the exhilaration of being finished with the year; quiet with soft hugs; electric with hope for the future. I felt such a need to hold on to you today. I wish I could explain that. It isn't about keeping you small or keeping you home, it's a Heart Swell of love and pride and so many memories flooding the body all at once.
When you were a baby, a stranger came up to me in the store to ooh and aah over your beautiful thick hair and we talked for awhile. He asked me your name and said something that I've remembered through all these years: "Tell your child you don't love her because she's pretty or smart or popular or does what you say. Tell her that you love her because she's Shelly and there's no other her in the world." I've forgotten to tell you that many times, mostly when I needed you to be something different because of my own weaknesses. Today, my love for you makes me feel both entirely weak and terribly strong.
I feel overwhelmingly proud and full of so much love for you that it nearly aches in me. There was a ghost of me today walking beside me, holding a bundle of you in my arms. You're going to think I'm being silly and way too sentimental but I swear I could smell your baby smell. I'm just so damned proud of you, Bunny. I didn't know today was going to feel like this.
Be large and love large.
Be you with no excuses.
I love you, Shelly. All of you.
With all of me,
Love,
Mom
P.S. See you at 6 a.m. I'll be the one with wild hair and a baseball cap to hide it, parked and waiting on the street.
.
.
Write a nutty poem,
Sing a mumble-gumble song,
Whistle through your comb.
Do a loony-goony dance
'Cross the kitchen floor,
Put something silly in the world
That ain't been there before."
-Shel Silverstein
Dear Snugglebunny of the pink, footed pajamas:
I couldn't sleep for thinking of you tonight. I hope you're having a good time with your friends: high on the exhilaration of being finished with the year; quiet with soft hugs; electric with hope for the future. I felt such a need to hold on to you today. I wish I could explain that. It isn't about keeping you small or keeping you home, it's a Heart Swell of love and pride and so many memories flooding the body all at once.
When you were a baby, a stranger came up to me in the store to ooh and aah over your beautiful thick hair and we talked for awhile. He asked me your name and said something that I've remembered through all these years: "Tell your child you don't love her because she's pretty or smart or popular or does what you say. Tell her that you love her because she's Shelly and there's no other her in the world." I've forgotten to tell you that many times, mostly when I needed you to be something different because of my own weaknesses. Today, my love for you makes me feel both entirely weak and terribly strong.
I feel overwhelmingly proud and full of so much love for you that it nearly aches in me. There was a ghost of me today walking beside me, holding a bundle of you in my arms. You're going to think I'm being silly and way too sentimental but I swear I could smell your baby smell. I'm just so damned proud of you, Bunny. I didn't know today was going to feel like this.
Be large and love large.
Be you with no excuses.
I love you, Shelly. All of you.
With all of me,
Love,
Mom
P.S. See you at 6 a.m. I'll be the one with wild hair and a baseball cap to hide it, parked and waiting on the street.
.
.