Tears and Laughter: Some days are diamonds

Two of the best things ever to happen so far in my life are my granddaughter, Delilah, and her younger sister, Julia, who Delilah calls “Gia.”

They come over with their mother several times a week and go out from time to time together. But Thursday afternoon, Julia had a doctor’s appointment and I had the opportunity to take Delilah shopping with me for the first time without her mama and Julia.

When I picked her up she came out with a book under her arm, a bag of toys in one hand, and a stuffed puppy in the other. Delilah never intentionally goes anywhere without a book. Usually she will have two so that Julia will have one to “read” too, but in Julia’s absence she only had the one, a paperback I noticed. It was the children’s classic “Heidi.” She can’t read yet, but I guess she had liked the way it sounded when her Mama read it to her.

As soon as she was strapped into her safety seat and I pulled out of the driveway she asked, “Now, how long before we get to where we are going?”

I told her it would be at least 45 minutes that we were going to Monroeville. And with that she kicked back and opened “Heidi.”

About every 15 minutes she would ask again how long it would be before we got there. Not in an impatient way, but just casually asking. I had forgotten…how they do that. To pass the time, she also sang songs. They were songs I didn’t know, but my 12-year-old, McKenzie, did and she would play them for her on her phone while Delilah would sing. I had forgotten about that too, how for a while they are free enough to just throw their heads back and sing even if they make up most of the words.

Everything we did, whether it was exchanging a battery for my son’s dirt bike, or buying what was on my grocery list, it was all an adventure for her. She picked out cupcakes she thought her sister would like and bought her a stuffed animal, a squirrel. She asked me to text her mama to find out if “Gia” was still at the doctor.

I told her we were going to stop to get her a kid’s meal for the ride home and then I asked her if she would rather have chicken nuggets or a hamburger. She said, “Cookies.” And I said, “Right, but for your meal do you want chicken or a hamburger.” I could see her nodding in agreement in my rearview mirror. “Cookies,” she said.

So I rephrased it asking if she wanted chicken and cookies or a hamburger and cookies. She chose the hamburger and ate the cookie first. She nibbled on the hamburger for the rest of the trip. She still asked every few minutes how much longer, even though she can’t yet tell time. Just as often I heard her ask McKenzie, “Hey, where’s my hamburger?” She kept losing it in her car seat as she played with her toys and had McKenzie reading portions of “Heidi” to her.

She had dozed off when I pulled back into her driveway. She was happy to see her little sister and reminded me not to forget her cupcakes. She hugged me good-bye and I noticed “Heidi” was under her arm again as walked away. She was holding the puppy and the squirrel, and told me she was sorry, but she had lost that hamburger. I found it, when I got home and cleaned the car.

In a calendar of ordinary, some days are like diamonds, and Thursday was one.

Amanda Walker is a columnist with The West Alabama Watchman, Al.com, The Thomasville Times, and The Wilcox Progressive Era. For more information, visit her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AmandaWalker.Columnist.