MAY 12, 2024 - MOMMY AND ME BLOG # 17 - I PEEPED THE LITTLE GIRL IN HER

I sat at home last week, watching a documentary about situations and events that tend to bring to life, the excitement in the elderly, sending their minds to an exciting place, a youthful place. During the last 7-8 years of her life, I watched Mommy develop a daily routine that seemed to satisfy her just fine. I always tried to interrupt that routine though, just to keep her thinking, imagining and looking forward to something.

It was around the end of June, 2004 or 05, when our flowers were in full bloom and our grass was like a blanket across both yards. It was just the right time to get her active doing something in the yard. I bought this croquet set, a game that’s played by striking a wooden ball with a wooden mallet, through wire hoops that are placed in the grass in an open space. On a sunny day, as she sat in the yard in the shade, I went and got the colorful game and began sitting the game up. She sat there and watched me trying to hit the wooden ball through several of the wire hoops. I’m wondering why she isn’t saying anything or coming to join me, so I walked over to her and tried to hand her the mallet. Then I saw that she was turning her head away with this big grin on her face with tears rolling down her face. She finally just laughed out loud which somewhat a relief. When Mommy is having a good hearty laugh, she sometime looks as though she is crying at the same time. But to hear her laugh, always a delights me. Come to find out, she was laughing at me the whole time I was trying to hit the ball through the wire hoops like I was trying to hit a golf ball . . . totally the wrong way. She finally got herself together and said “you don’t know how to play that game boy.” What happened next amazed. Mommy got up from her seat like she had absolutely no knee pain or nothing, grabbed my crocket mallet and walked over to one of the balls in the yard and positioned herself on the ball the ‘correct’ way and began to hit the ball through several of the hoops with no problem. Then, it got to be super fun to her as she got progressively into the game. Just like a little girl, she began to giggle and cheer herself on as though it was a championship croquet match. She actually hit the ball through the hoops with no trouble at all, giggling laughing the entire time. Mommy was good at this game! She hit her ball, walked and hit it again with not trouble at all. Mommy was just like a little girl . . . giggling and laughing and just having fun playing “croquet.” We had a good time.

I guess it was just one of those times that something touched her, sending her back to childhood maybe. I will never, ever forget that day outside, when Mommy and Me had one of our greatest times together, playing crocket in our yard. “I Peeped The Little Girl” in Mommy that day.