old country house blog

DraggyDandy

…a few people have asked me about the painting in Phoebe’s room. 
This one…
This is a Painting entitled 
“DraggyDandy”
I painted it a few years ago, of my daughter, for her room. 
…Who is Draggy Dandy? 
Well, when my eldest, Tate (who is now 14 and has his 8th grade Dinner/Dance tonight (gulp),
…when Tate was two and Phoebe was a newborn, Tate wanted to call her “Raggedy Andy”. 
That is a mouthful for a toddler, and thus his compromise was “DraggyDandy”. It stuck.
 Phoebe is “Draggy”, her nickname for as long as she can remember. 
This is the inspiration for the painting…
Phoebe on her way out the door to Pre School.
Her feet never touched the ground…


I still have the tiny Tap Shoes
She wore them for  a year
Hand Me Down from her
Tap Dancing cousins 

  …..It all goes Toooo fast.

How can this little boy…be going to a dinner/dance? he’s too little.

who is this?
He used to tell me he wished I could go to school with him and be his teacher.
 Now I am not “allowed” to go to the dance.

     Kids grow up every day, in homes all over the world. It is what is supposed to happen and part of the bigger picture. Why is it then, that when it happens to you, before YOUR very eyes, that it feels like you have been Had? That you are brought to your knees, humbled by the powers that be, who hold much more in their hands than you ever will. When you hold close your tiny babies (especially when they sleep), you are lulled to a place that you never what to leave, where everything just fits perfectly. You hold true love, right there in your arms.
     And then you get distracted and you open your arms and a child grows up. It is the way it is supposed to be. Like the sun is supposed to set. And I thank GOD every day that I have my children and that they are healthy and strong and happy.
     I am glad I took a lot of pictures. I am glad that I am their Mother and that I will be able to one day hold their children.
…But I must confess, I really miss my babies…and feet that never touch the ground.

P.S. late addition…it just occurred to me that today, 13 years ago, was Phoebe’s Due date. Wow.
 

2 thoughts on “DraggyDandy

  1. Lesli, this is a wonderful post. So much meaning threaded through it – for those of us who have held babies and then realized how quickly the years go by. I love your sensitivity to life and family! And I love you –

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