Donovan noticed how many stories and photos of his brother Weston I've posted on my blog site and he was feeling a little overlooked. I tried to explain that he is in my thoughts many times, but when it comes to quoting things said or taking photos, Weston is the one who is home with Daddy and I right now, just like he was for almost the first 3 years of his life. It's true though... I don't know all the stories and quote-ables from his day at school. I miss him and only see him in the wee hours or when he's more demanding of free time after his long bus ride. So... Today I will feature my oldest son: Donovan James Snider the fiery, darling, sensitive, artist redhead.
I love how Donovan plays with his brother Weston (usually.) I like that they are mates. They build track together, crack jokes to each other, play stuffie wars, Pokemon, and TNMT together. Now Donovan has also taken to reading books to his little brother and I think that is one of my favorite things. Weston gets so calm when he's being read to and this picture of the two of them on Donovan's bed warms my soul too.
Yesterday at church we had a CD of special music to play by our friend Jeff Johnson. Since I was planning the service, I wanted to include a visual element as well. So Deanne brought lots of colored scarfs and we invited the young children to dance with the scarves to the music. Donovan decided he would prefer not to dance, so he commenced with decorating the cross with the scarves. By the end of the music, all the children had joined in and suddenly, we had a Joseph's coat of a cross embracing all the colors of the world. It was beautiful and so simple it seemed magical. I snuck a picture of it during the prayer following -- CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? No one is supposed to sneak pictures during a prayer, but... it was so stunning!
Well, tomorrow I leave for Montreal, Boston and Cambridge and Donovan is going to have a bit of a hard time with that I suspect. He's so sensitive to fears of death and separation; whenever we come across someone dying in a story we're reading he gets pretty upset. Right now he doesn't want stories with death (even though he loves joking about killing bad guys.) Sigh. I'm thankful for his soft heart, but I wonder when to start speaking more soberly about death as a reality of life. I'm sure he knows, but he can't bring himself to dwell on it. That's OK. He'll be ready when he needs to be.
At night when I stroke his forehead and say goodnight, I snug him in, then say, "I love you, Donovan; have a good night." And he says, "Good night, Mom; I love you even more." I smile and wonder if I should argue. I can't imagine anyone loving him more than David and I... but maybe in his world, he does love more. It's sweet, and it reminds me of the bunny and his daddy: "I love you all the way to the moon, and back."
The sun has returned and I bet Dave and the boys will have a bit of good snow time this week. I will carry them with me and see them again on Sunday. One little note about Weston: he's letting me borrow his super special bright blue suitcase -- what a guy! And I know, Donovan would give me the shirt off his back if he thought it would help.
No comments:
Post a Comment