Four Things I Want to Remember

a) The moment of bliss I felt as Beatrice and I drove to school today. We had Raffi's "All I Need" blaring in my car and the two of us were singing.  She is really singing these days, knowing the lyrics and keeping the time and tune better and better, and the heartfelt ways she sang the words to this song told me they are  how she truly feels every day:
"All I really need is a song in my heart, food in my belly, and love in my family, all I really need is a song in my heart, and love in my family....." Music, food, and our family----no doubt, three of her greatest joys in life.

b)We had an Indian classic dancer perform at my school yesterday.  She was amazing, and Beatrice and Anthony came to watch before Bea headed into her school late.  I introduced them after the show before they left.  Afterward, Rachna asked me if Beatrice danced.  She quite seriously and genuinely told me that she sees a true dancer in Bea, in her body frame, her beauty, and the unique way she carries herself and moves.  I don't know how long Beatrice will continue dance.  We are not pushing her, but Anthony and I have commented frequently to each other how graceful she is, and what good rhythm she has. To have this professional who's been dancing over 40-years make that statement with no initiation from me was interesting.  Just writing it down for posterity in case my girl turns out to be a dancer...Rachna Agrawal discovered her first!

c) Beatrice washed the dishes for the first time. Except for the time we went camping and she and I did them in the outdoors, we've avoided this because the sink is high, of course it takes longer than if we do them, and we have mostly heavy and breakable dishes. Anthony said it as a joke, and she called his bluff.  She loved it and did quite a good job.  This may be the start of a trend.  We'll see how long the love of this chore lasts, but for now we're trying to present it as a really fun thing, and soothing with the warm water.  Again writing it down for documentation, Beatrice's first real dishwashing job was done at the age of 4.11!

d) I said goodbye to my 17-year old Honda Accord today.  That car has been with me since I am 27 years old, seems like a lifetime ago.  It drove me on dates, to my weddings, to my mother's funeral, to my races and marathon, to chemo and radiation treatments for both my parents, to pick up our dog.  I used to wash and vacuum it religiously. I swear I could still smell that new car smell once in a while even recently.  Eventually bumper stickers got put on, scratches and stains didn't get removed, pieces of plastic fell off, cruise control stopped working, a carseat was installed, and coffee and goldfish crumbs spilled onto the seats.  "Hillary" never broke down.  Started for me every single day. Still had a lot of oomph in her engine.  A great car.  But it's time for something different which I can drive farther with less worry, so enter a silver 2012 Honda Civic which gets 40 mpg. Beatrice is devastated because there's no cassette player in it to play her multiple Raffi tapes.  I've entered the world of CD players, needle-less speedometers,  keyless entry, and once again, worrying daily about when and where that first ding is going to happen.  I hope "Pearl" or "Mabel" (haven't settled on a name yet) will be around long enough for Beatrice to learn to drive.