Some walls, like people, fall down.

I first saw the crumbled stone wall from the kitchen window on Sunday night.

I was cleaning Finny's bowl.

Yesterday, I decided to take Nonie for a walk to the back stone steps leading out to the trails so she could have a look at the damage.

The retaining wall had crumbled in the far corner, and large stones were strewn below the spot where our lawn connects to the forest below.

It didn't really bother me that our wall had crumbled. It didn't really surprise me either, the rains last week wreaked far more damage on other landscapes than they did in our backyard.

Back in the yard, Nonie took a good, long look.

She crouched, rested on her knees and examined the mess below.

Then, she stood up and launched toward the back steps that lead to the kitchen.

Nonie, Nonie....where are you going?

To get my tape to fix the wall.... She shouted over her shoulder.

I retrieved her. Before she made it up the stairs I brought her back to the spot and told her that tape wouldn't work. It wasn't strong enough.

When this shocking news sunk in to her spinning little mind, she looked at me with big, sad eyes and said:

Daddy will make it all better when he comes home.

I was fine that the wall had crumbled and wouldn't be fixed any time soon.

But Nonie was determined to oversee an immediate repair job.

She wanted orderly rocks and paths clear of debris.

I didn't even try to explain that the job would require much more.

Scotch tape can fix ripped paper airplanes and torn books, but not stone walls.

Daddy has the creative answers and quick solutions, but not all of them and not all of the time.

I loved Nonie's simple solutions, but some walls, like people, fall down.

Sometimes it is hard for them to get up again.

And, it takes time and real effort to "right" them. And by them, I refer to walls, and people.

To build them to a point where they are stronger than they ever were before, that takes real effort.

Tape can't do that, sweetheart. But I wish it could.

Grace. Peace. Love. Compassion. Determination. Generosity. Leadership. Courage. Loyalty. Selflessness. Vision. Hope. Bravery. How about Prayer?

?

My prayers are with Japan.

Wish it for them.

Yesterday.
I was in a store
Searching for presents.
Like every other crazed person I know.
And I overheard a conversation that I can't get out of my head.
A little boy said:
Why did you put that back up on the shelf?
And his mom said:
It is too expensive and we can't afford it.
And the boy said:
But it is Christmastime!
Christmas is in a few days!
And the mom said:
I know!
That is why I wanted to get the present for them.
And the boy said:
No mom, all you have to do is WISH it for them.
And the mom said:
What?
And the boy said (with such sincerity my heart actually hurt a bit):
Wish it for them, mom.
All you have to do is wish it for them and they'll get it.

***

And then I walked away.
And I wished it for them. For all of them.

* About the picture - I, the dog-sitter, type from Mom's computer and this is from her files. But I thought it was a bit Dorothy from the Wizzard of Oz - clicking her heals. You wit' me on that?!?

Back.

We're back (physically) from the sunny south.  We are not back mentally or spiritually.

Spent Easter Eve nestled with Dec convincing him that the northeast isn't as rainy/cold/cloudy/unbearable as it feels at this moment.

Then I told him the story of the Great Easter Bunny and tried like heck to answer his Easter questions:

"How does the Easter Bunny talk to you Mommy?" (this, after I told him the Easter Bunny told ME that all children need to be bathed and cozy in bed before their mommies tell them the Great Easter Bunny story).

"How did God get to heaven? Does he take a plane there?  Is it a bumpy plane ride?"

"Will the Easter Bunny know that I want a flag of the state in my Easter Basket and not chocolates?"

The bunny does now.  

What the heck is a flag of the state?