Thursday, January 3, 2013

AMEN, EDAN, AMEN

     Out of the mouths of babes can come some amazing things. Most of them are not usually conflicted with bad memories which cause shadows on the psyches of the children. They see things with pure hearts, like Jesus said when He said. “To the pure in heart, all things are pure.”
     At six years old Edan sees life as a series of enjoyable adventures, especially when it involves playground jaunts. She is definitely a city girl but is not limited with parks in close proximity to her house.
     On a recent trip to visit Edan and her parents, she and I were spending an entire day together without parental involvement. The day began about two hours earlier than her usual holiday morning arousal with the proclamation of “Are you ready to start our day together, MeMe?”
     Of course I was, and wishing we could spend more frequent days together which are ony limited by the fifteen hundred miles which separate our residences.
     The morning was spent playing with her many Christmas gifts, mostly crafts of some kind. After lunch the playground beckoned us since it was a sunny day outside.
     Edan skipped all the way to the playground while I followed behind, hampered only by a healing broken foot or I would have skipped along with her.
     Her first venture on the play structures was on a U shaped metal ladder which was anchored to the ground at both ends. She climbed on it, hung from it with both legs, then with one leg. While doing those ventures many times she also rehearsed over and over the words to the Do, Re, Me song from the Sound of Music. She was determined to get it right. That rehearsal took about 25 repetitions, all while she was playing on the ladder. Her singing the words were done with a vibrato voice with very dramatic and sustained emphasis on the words, all which cracked me up. I was able to temper my laugher so as not to intimidate her.
     Swinging on the swings in the background was a young baby who was being gingerly pushed in the swing by her mother. I know they were enjoying the repetitive song that Edan was singing many times, determined to get it perfect.
     When Edan went to the big slide I admired the baby in the swing. The mother and I conversed for a few minutes about the beauty of the baby. Edan joined into the conversation asking the mom the age of the baby and if she could talk and if she could walk, etc., about which six year old girls always seem to have an interest.
     I exited the conversation as Edan and the mother of the baby began a long, drawn out dialogue with Edan contributing most of the conversation. She asked the mom if the baby goes to day care to which the mom answered, “Not yet.”
     Edan assured the mom that it was a good thing for the baby to go to day care since she had made really good friends at day care and they are still good friends even after going to different schools. The mom was gracious enough to act interested in Edan’s assessment of day care.
     After about fifteen minutes of the adult’s and six year old girl’s verbal exchange I sensed that the mom wanted to move on to another area of the playground with the baby in tow. She excused herself and walked away with her seven and a half month old baby.
     Edan told them goodbye, then infomed me that she was getting a little chilly so we should make our way to her home which was a few blocks up the hill.
     As we exited the playground Edan graciously proclaimed, “ There are a lot of very, very nice people in the San Francisco area, MeMe."
     My reply was, “Amen, Edan, Amen.”
     We started up the hill and my precious granddaughter suggested to her Oklahoma grandmom that we practice talking “British” while we walked home. I’ve never talked British before but I didn’t want to let her think that I was too inhibited to attempt it. So I chimed in with the only British phrase I could think of at the time. I said, “Bloody good idea.” That was a new phrase for Edan, so I had to explain what it meant. Then she began to talk with the most affluent British accent I’ve heard a six year old attempt. She talked “British” all the way home.
     I agree with Edan, “There are a lot of very, very nice people in the San Francisco area,” one of which is a very loquacious little girl whom I get to claim as my granddaughter. She’s a precious product of the San Franciso area and its culture, one of tolerance, respect and inclusion. Edan is a perfect example of the nice people in the San Franciso area. I know the mother of the baby agrees with me. She’s probably telling someone right now about the darling little girl who assured her of the benefits of day care for her baby.
     I've found that that's the way the people I've met in San Francisco are, always reassuring, just like Edan. 



Edan does that, she reassures everyone, just like all the nice people in the San Francisco area.