My eldest grandchild, Abby holds my heart in her chubby little hands. Les has been dead for almost two years and Abby still believes fairies and pixies live in the woods located behind Papa Les' house. She has been asking me to take her back to Papa Les' house to hunt for fairies for several weeks. The weather has been much too wet for the pursuit of the magical little beings.
Abby is wanting to relive a magical day in early June 2009 when I took all four of my precious grandchildren for an adventurous romp through the woods while their Papa lay dying in the house just a few yards away. All four children had their own ideas of what they would find in the wild unexplored territory behind Papa's house. Wesley and Alysa were Peter Pan fans so they were in search of pixies. One pixie in particular, Tinkerbell, of course. Abby was quite certain leprechauns lived there and little two year old Anna clung to me in fear of the tigers she swore she saw watching us behind every tree. We never actually saw any fairies but Abby was convinced that the butterfly that flew around us was really a fairy in disguise checking us out. Later five year old Wesley told his father this had been the most exciting adventure he had ever had.
Children have a belief in magic so strong that it is undeniable. Two years later, my grandchildren still believe fairies were hiding all around them. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to go back to your childhood and rediscover that person? You know the person, the one who believed in the good in everyone. The person who believed that dreams do come true. The person who believed in them self. What were your dreams when playing with paper dolls? Did you cut out a beautiful wedding dress and attach it to the pretty paper lady and walk her down the aile with her handsome gentleman? Did you imagine a beautiful home with two or three perfect well behaved children or like me did you design your own clothes for your paper doll and imagine one day becoming a famous New York designer? Funny how dreams slip away with our ordinary day to day coming and going. I had completely forgotten about designing clothes for my paper dolls until just now. As a child I believed in myself, in my artistic abilities. Somewhere along life's journey I lost that belief.
Today I believe in magic. I believe in the magic of a child's laughter, of the smell of freshly cut grass, of the miracle of a rainbow and I believe in the healing strength of love.
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