Thursday, November 30, 2006

Happy Birthday Emma.

From A Paris Hotel Room

It was the spring after my sister died that I began to notice the moths. They would follow me from room to room beating against the window shades or show themselves in the one tiny patch of light as I dressed for the day. Some days, some hours, I would count as many as twenty and still they held no significance for me. I saw them as many see the trees which line the highway, just passing objects.

One afternoon when the rains came I let the girls take off all their clothes and run naked in the yard while I danced around them in my blue nanny dress. I don’t know why I did that. That night the moths were so large that they woke me like a burglar might. I put bowls of sugar around the house to keep them from the books.

Occasionally, the elder of the two girls will touch my arm and speak of my sister as if she remembers her. She tells me that my sister is dead.

Then the moths. They like to linger in hot places like the roof of the car. The smaller ones cling to my hands as I water the garden in the morning. When I ask others if they notice the creatures with the same consistency most deny it or act as though it is ordinary. The few that show an interest describe them as hideous monsters. I argue them to be more beautiful than butterflies.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday to Emma.

It was a cold foggy morning when I awoke in labor. Quickly we rushed off to the hospital. The landscape was dark and misty as we crossed the Sacramento causeway. A song came on the radio by the Steve Miller Band--Bungle in the Jungle--it stayed in my mind all day. What a song to think about while deilivering new life into the world. We arrived at the hospital and told there was no rush. Little Emma Elizabeth came into the world just 4 hours later. Strange how even now, I can remember all the details.

Our sweet little Emma, the angel God lent us for awhile. She always wanted to have two little boys. I see her smiling down from Heaven as she has sent her sisters those boys!

Happy Birthday Emma--our memories of you will last forever.

Mom