Since it is Tuesday I went to go visit my lunch buddy. She continues to amaze me with her wit, intelligence and, most of all, her stories. The more she tells me about her family the more I want to a) meet her mom, b) hang out with her little brother and c) tell her older brother to take care of her. First of all, her mom sounds amazing. I have an amazing mom of my own so I can appreciate stories like how her mom doesn’t believe in “beatings” because it is “too hard for her children;” punishments like extended stays inside and doing chores is an alternative to the constant hijinks that seem to go on in their household.
So my sweet little girl told me two stories today that stuck out in my head. First she told me about how she really wanted some candy from her momma’s jar (if you read my previous post, mom put a bell on the jar to ward off such nefarious candy-snatchers) so she took some tissue and stuffed it in the bell so it wouldn’t ring. Genius! I wanted to high-five her but thought better of it as I am supposed to be the mentor and role-model. This adorable tale was then quickly countered with a much darker one.
Her oldest brother, 17 and newly enlisted, came home on a short leave. They threw him a party where my sweetie had to wear a pink dress (gross!) and was forced to dance with her brother who stepped all over her toes. I smiled because I could just picture the two of them, my tomboy cutie and her tall brother dancing sweetly in the living room. She then told me that her brother wanted to go to college instead of being in the Army because he had to kill a little boy. He didn’t want to do that any more, she told me, he wants to be a doctor and help people. What can you possibly say to that? Of course she segued right into how she wouldn’t let him practice on her because he wouldn’t want to sew her back up again; this led into how she had recently watched “Snakes on a Plane” and described in detail the gory scenes that gave her nightmares later that night. So quickly the thought of death passed from her mind yet it hasn’t been able to leave mine.
God give her the strength to continue being so strong and intelligent; give me the ability to come visit with her every Tuesday.
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