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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Who is Pigeon?

Pigeon is a little boy, still very young, born in October when the leaves still garnished the trees and the corn stood tall and golden in the fields. He was tiny and perfect then, and still very much is, though he wails like the March wind when he wants someone's attention. He sighs and smiles in his sleep, and when he does his mother is glad after all that she wasn't fast asleep like him, or she would have missed the miracle.

When he first appeared, he had tufts of dark silky hair like goose feathers at the nape of his neck and a thin sheen of it gracing the rest of his head. It mostly fell out, but is growing back in much lighter and still a silky-smooth down (though it's fuzzy and stands on end after a bath). His eyes are sometimes blue like his mother's, and sometimes hazel, like his father's. He has Mother's chin and Father's smile, but his whole face changes with each passing mood.

At times Pigeon is anxious. He likes to be swaddled. His mother's prayer is that he grows up to be above all else kind, to stand up for the helpless, and comfort the weak, and so she is careful to hold him close when he needs it and show him loads of kindness whenever she can. She doesn't always get it right, but Pigeon is remarkably forgiving for one so small. He knows somehow that Mother needs as much patience as he does, and together they are learning, and growing, and changing...

Pigeon is growing and changing much too quickly, in fact! And so, here is a simple record of his days, moments swept up out of the current of his childhood and put into jars to be turned and examined in the changing light of future seasons. Perhaps not extraordinary, but no less delightful. Everyone should have a shelf full of jars somewhere, memories preserved to be feasted upon when life gets cold and the fields dry up...

3 comments:

  1. Congratulations he's beautiful. Amazing isn't how we can learn so much so fast from one tiny little person.

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  2. It is, Luisa! He is precious and teaches me so much every day!

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  3. I love your second to last paragraph. I am going to plagiarize that pray with my daughter and future children! Thanks for sharing this.

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Do you enjoy Pigeon's stories? Tell him about it! He would love to hear from you!