I nearly canceled my birthday Thursday because I’ve decided I’d prefer to become younger, not older.
If I’d done that, though, then Dawn, Rich, Gavin and Lael wouldn’t have had an excuse to visit. So I decided to pretend one more time that I would really, really try to grow up.
To celebrate my resolution, Gavin and I spent the evening playing with the new Playmobile castle that Gavin was sure that Santa was going to give me this year. (You do need a castle for each side, after all.) Strangely, Gavin ended up with Pahtah’s new castle, but reassured me we would take turns and I could have the new castle next time.
Lael’s idea of playing is to crawl up the stairs as fast as she can (damn fast, considering she’s only 9 months old), crawl directly to where Gavin is playing, and try to play with exactly the same toys Gavin is playing with, all the time ignoring Gavin’s increasingly loud and hysterical cries of “Lael, Lael, Lael” until Pahtah has to pick her up because she tries to swallow all the swords, helmets, and crowns. I think the name of this game is “Torture Older Brother,” and, being a younger brother, I have some vague memory of just how much fun it can be. She certainly seems perfectly happy playing the game again and again.
No one grows younger —
hanging on, hoping to live
as if each day were born anew.