A friend came by to visit and brought along her daughter I call "Sunshine." She calls me "Meme."
Sunshine just had her 7th birthday and I got her a Barbie doll. She got loads of gifts from her doting family, and she proudly showed off the Hanna Montana boots from her mother.

I asked Sunshine did she have a favorite subject in school, and she said "math." Then sounding perplexed she said "But I don't understand it!" I had to laugh--how can someone's favorite subject be something she doesn't understand?
This child does that to me--she makes me laugh. I said to her "You're precious." She looked down demurely and said "I knooow!" As if I were the last person on earth to know that.

She played around with my walking stick, trying to walk like me, but the stick was almost as tall as she, so she looked like Little Red Riding Hood with a limp. She said "This thing is hard to use." Then she patted my sore trick knee, her baby face full of concern, and said "Meme tell the doctor to get you a new leg." I wanted to laugh and cry. I kissed the top of her dear little head and said okay, I'll ask for a leg transplant. She said "Yes!" and went back to the walking stick.

So cynical me, a cold woman my daughter calls me, is really a glacier that only needs a little Sunshine to melt it away.

susil