Fairy queen with thumbs of green, knower of everything.
Canoe paddler, cheerleader, harmonica wailer, Hobie Cat sailor.
Grand marshal of late-night tractor parades.
Maker of hay.
Seizer of days.
Motorcycle mama, mystic, magician,
Monk lover and play-by-ear musician.
A beautiful bird who flew the coop.
Healer, horse doctor, Walter whisperer, underdog defender.
Hot tubber, grandchild snuggler, holy mother.
Her Royal Hostess of East Huntsville.
Moon howler and friend to hug.
Rosie, Rosemary, Rosebud.
Percussion princess, pony cart driver,
Treehouse builder, teacher, thriver.
Our rosy-cheeked strong stubborn brown-eyed girl.
Freer of spirits, eyes of the world.
Master gardener and garden swapper.
Lovage pusher, plane hopper.
Journeyman electrician and wildest of things.
Champion of dreams.
Ski bunny, snow angel,
Hitchhiker, soap maker, berry picker, risk taker.
Lover, sparkler, singer, writer.
Artist and wrong righter.
Wife of Mike,
Mother of Johanna and Paul,
Nanny Rose to Della and George,
Daughter of Lou and Frances,
Sister of Jeanie, Bill, and Lou.

May your afterlife be a flashlight adventure, a garden of Eden, a reincarnation. We will always love you.

We walked to the monastery on Wednesday, and I saw her flying above a field in the body of a bird, and in every glint of sunlight in the falling snow, and in Father Patrick’s eye when he said, “She’s only a prayer away. You know that, don’t you? She’s only a prayer away.”

This was the first time George and Della had their hair cut commercially, and it was necessary.

Della said some things in the chair that indicated she expected her cut to result in hair longer than it had been pre-cut.

She was happy until she saw this picture I took of the back.

This is her saying, It’s not long!

Here they are last night, with long hair, at a crib party.

Apparently pacifiers at raves is still a thing.

George draws little circles.

Can you guess which snowman is Della’s?

The melty one.

Which I find really expressive, as she’s been having a lot of melt-downs recently.

George: You is a girl.
Della: You said I is a girl?
George: Yeah.
Della: Awww. That is a nice, nice thing you called me.

We play Cinderella ALL THE TIME. I am the Stepmother, George is the Fairy Godmother/Lizard, Della is Googly Stepsister Anastasia. The dog I am holding is Bruno, Kitty Bob is Lucifer 2, I am also holding a little plastic Gus Gus. The bluish cat in George’s arms is Original Lucifer. The cats under the blanket are Baby Lucifer and Baby Twin Lucifer. Incidentally, no one is playing the role of Cinderella, and that is usually the case because no one wants to do any chores.

Della says this is her mermaid alarm clock. She says, “We can’t see the numbers, but they’re there.”