Ephemeral Fragility
"Ma Ma...a pider!" Kimi exclaims.
I look to her and then what she is pointing at on the cement patio of our town home. She has found a fly, not yet able to use its wings after the long winter. It is scrambling around trying to avoid Kimi's prodding.
"yes Kimi, you found a fly...that isn't a spider sweetie."
I turn my attention back to putting her bike seat together that I had purchased earlier. I was determined to get it done as to not waste the day...since it took me going to three stores before finding the dang thing...
Kimi continued to poke at the fly.
The next moment Kimi is crying. Big salty tears rolling down her round cheeks.
"Ma Maaa...pider hurt...pider hurt!"
She is upset and sitting down and lookng at her shoe in horror.
The fly is squashed.
Her little face is in such turmoil. She is genuinely upset that she smooshed it.
I don't laugh as I flick the dead fly from the bottom of her shoe with a stick.
"Kimi, if you don't want to hurt the fly, you can't stomp on it" as I kiss away her tears.
"It's okay baby, just be careful. Bugs are smaller than you and you can hurt them."
"Okay Ma Ma."
She gets up and toddles off to chase the birds that are poking around the ground underneath the big tree, because like the fly, they bring her joy.
She has learned something new, something profound. It was her first lesson about the fragility of life. Given her response and her ability to feel so deeply for another living thing, even as lowly as a fly...I am humbled.
posted by Kassi Gilbert @ 8:35 PM
1 Comments:
why, oh why? do you insist on writing such beautiful things when my next entry is going to be something as ridiculous as this weird dream I had last night
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