When I was little, I liked to run through my parents' wheat field. I wore my special white scarf and loved to watch it fly behind me as I ran. I needed to wear dresses most of the time. I wouldn't have it any other way, and my parents... rather than get aggravated, they thought it was just right. Funny, cute, precious--all that stuff only parents thought. I was just happy they were on my side.
I remember at the end of the day, my dad would come out and play with me while mom made us frozen fruit pops and other nice things. Barbecues, music and dancing. Great things that meant the world to me.

One day, mom came home with a blanket she bought from the thrift shop and said we would have a picnic later on after dinner, and I remember being extremely excited. So excited that I planned to set all my stuffed animals in a circle and have a meeting about it shortly after dinner was over. There would be plenty of time because dad wasn't home yet. Sometimes he didn't get home until 6:30 or 7 and dinner was always at 5.

Certain toys couldn't come to the picnic because they were mean to others. I told them it was bad to take what isn't yours. I mothered them. As an adult now, it's harder to see it like I did then... How imagination is everything. It makes the world turn in more ways... the number could be so great not a single mind in this life could possibly count how many there are. We just do things for one another and live on happily with the thought "I did this" in our minds. Love induces creativity. Love drives it, and creativity drives love. The evidence is everywhere.

But anyway...

In the end of trying to decide the fate of my toys, I felt guilty. This was a very hard choice to make! I loved each and every one of my toys in that circle. I thought, 'what would mom do'? Any time I was bad, she would make me watch an educational show. A lot of times, I hardly paid attention to it because I was so angry. But at the moment, that seemed like the best way to punish my bad toys. This was when I had to get creative.

I grabbed my scarf, threw it around my neck and stood there before everyone with my hands on my hips. "Rosy, Chica, Ben and Thomas--you're all going to watch a show about world cultures!" Then I suddenly looked at Thomas, "What's that? You have something to say about that?! ...I didn't think so! Sit down and watch the show. Learning is good for your brain cells, you got it kids?" I was a very smart child, I have to say.

I went and turned my tv on. After spending a few minutes of finding the right channel, I looked back and both mom and dad were standing in the doorway watching me. They were completely thrilled with what I was doing. I froze right there and just couldn't find the right words to say. I was so embarrassed it wasn't even funny. Well, to me it wasn't, anyway. I didn't know dad had just gotten home from work. He came in with his arms out and I walked over and hugged him. He asked me what happened to the blanket. Confused, I looked at him and of course, I said I didn't know what he was talking about. Mom appeared to be just as confused. I never had it in the first place. So once I told them that, we all went outside and I saw it layed out right in front of the house with my grandparents sitting on it and all the stuff to make the perfect picnic was nicely set upon it. I raised my hands up to my mouth and squealed with joy. "The picnic! Maw maw, Paw paw!!!" I ran to them, completely overjoyed they had come to join us. I hadn't seen them in two years. To a child, that is forever. They laughed warmly and opened their arms to me. I was so happy.

But when I looked back, my parents seemed upset as they glanced at each other and then at me. That made me sad too, because... I was the only one who could see them. I could feel them too, even though it wasn't the same as hugging someone solid. The love was still there. It never dies. It never goes away. It just gets buried in the sands of time. At least I knew that even at such an age.

To this day, I still see them.

And I enjoy every bit of their company.