Overheard

Me:  "Wow, Jojo!  You hit that piñata hard."

Jojo: "I just tried my best and I hitted it super hard, Mom!"

-Jojo, age 6;1 years
At my school multicultural carnival

Bye Bye, Birdie

Today our sweet parakeet, Lucas, died.  I came home from class and all the boys were gone.  The past few days the bird had been quiet, but I've been so busy and distracted I hardly noticed.  Today he was on his perch and he fell over.  It was then that I realized something was wrong.  He could hardly keep his eyes open as he tried to eat some seeds and was lethargic.

I told the boys about their pet when they returned home.  Gabriel and Jojo were especially concerned and we took Lucas out to hold him.  A few hours later it was clear he was about to die so we pet him a long while.  He tried to fly and landed on Gabriel's shirt. 

Then we put him back in to his cage.  I turned around and Gabriel was sobbing.  I held him a while.  Pretty soon Mike and I were each holding a sobbing boy.  It really tore my heart out to see them upset. Christian shed about two tears and ran back to watch a game on t.v.  A few moments later he found us all on the couch with his brothers and he said, "It's just a bird. It's not like a family member died."  Oh, but it was close enough. 

That bird gave me such happiness.  He always chirped, and he would show off for guests.  A couple months ago Jeanne, my SIL, noticed Lucas running back and forth in the cage and bobbing his head up and down at her.  It sounded like he was tap dancing in the cage, and he would only do that when guests were there.  Lucas went to bed when we did and never woke us up.  He travelled well, too.

Pets give us so much -- they give us comfort, unconditional love, and peacefulness. Even a little bird like Lucas gave so much.  When I noticed Lucas had stopped breathing Jojo commented, "Let's not tell Gaby.  He'll be sad."  And then Jojo proceeded to draw a picture of Lucas lying on his side in a cage.  We each handle grieving in different ways.  I encouraged the boys to cry -- let it out.  It'll make us feel better to get the sadness out.  I hope my sadness will go away soon.  Tomorrow we'll bury him.

God bless you, Lucas.

The Other Thief

Of course I sneered and
and told you to save
yourself since you are
after all famous for
saving others.  So how
dare you not do the

expected
     as a god, no miracle
     as a king, no legion
     as a man, no rebuke

That meek and mild bit
     how naive!
but it seems you finally
learned like I did

the hard way.  I could
have told you things
are tough all over.  Sure,

I'm a bitter man
     have been all my life
and even now at my own
execution I have nothing
                                     to say
     except a curse.

                  You knew better than
      to promise me platitudes

                    instead,
you gave me nothing

     nothing but a look
and now I'm lonely for you

you gave me nothing
     nothing but hope

-Ed Chavez
Chocolate Waters

Blue, Blue, Blue Christmas

We spent Christmas and New Year's in Tennessee at Nana and Papa's new beautiful home.  Papa has got his speakers system set up in and outside the house to listen to his Allman Brothers Band, ZZ Top, Muddy Waters....  We danced (and played air guitar and drums) on New Year's Eve night, and one thing I noticed that I hadn't while I was taping is that Gabriel seems to play for a pretend audience.