She opened her eyes and let the sunshine envelop her. Weekends were always the best. Dad was outside mowing the lawn and the rooster next door apparently had no inner clock. She rolled over and felt the crisp sheets on her skin and smiled.
Dressed and ready to play, down the stairs she went to brush her teeth in the parents' bathroom to be followed by breakfast. Johnny was already outside running around the backyard, being chased by the dogs, giant smile on his little kid face. When he was happy all you could really see was his teeth. They were big for his face though he would grow into them later in life and he would always need braces though he would never get them.
Becky crunched cornflakes and watched as mom appeared and reappeared through the doorways in her view as she cleaned the house and brought it back to its best state = organization. From the kitchen she told me to get outside and to remember to take some water with me and a lemonade for my dad. He would be done with the mowing soon and it was hot. We were still going to get locked out so she could finish without dirty little kid shoes trampling bits all over the freshly mopped floors.
Dad sat on the edge of the deck and smiled big as I handed him the lemonade I had made the day before.
He loved me and my lemonade and he was proud of the person I was becoming. Yep, all of that was written on his face every time I saw him look at me for my entire life. No pressure, a simple and powerful acceptance of me as myself, whatever that happened to be and however I chose to express it.
It's hard to learn to live a life where that no longer exists in human form. The memory is there, of course. His eyes were brown and the whites weren't super white but they shone like the moon on a clear night and were only outdone by the brightness of his smile. When John was happy there was no disguising it and no wish to do so either.
Mom was a little different. She had always been carefree and open, the youngest of 4 children who had all been born two years apart, except for my mom. She did as she pleased and continued to do so most of her life. According to my Dad, when they met, she was a bit flighty and would lose things in her apartment all the time. Early in their life together, she developed ways to keep track of the world. This was most probably in anticipation of hopefully having to keep track of children. And she did well. She taught us to keep track of things, complete our work and have all the fun that was possible in any situation. Pranks were encouraged and tickles and giggling and wondering what craziness would ensue next were the norm.
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