Today began sunny and lovely and by the evening we were making a cozy fire and brewing cups of hot tea.
But while the sun was still pushing through the clouds I was outside with our little friend who is very nearly two now. Peter was with me and we were just gladly following the little one around. She's so sweet and grown up now. I can hardly believe how big she's getting. We found some pretty flowers blooming near the front door of our school. I lifted her up and we picked a branch. We smelled them, " 'mell 'em?" "mama, 'or mama" so we picked another branch for mama. And as we turned she held them out to Peter. Peter made his "cute baby" face and leaned forward to smell them.
Peter's face went completely blank. He looked at me and I could see what he was seeing. Until he was almost 5 and we moved Peter spent hours climbing our huge lilac bush, way up into the tops of the branches. Through his expression, I could see the leaves in the breeze that he would see from the old lilac tree. I could hear the neighborhood kids calling and laughing. And I could smell the lilacs.
Funny how a scent can take you right back and put you in the body you had when you knew that smell.
I miss my four-year-old Peter. He misses his lilac tree.
2 comments:
This made me tear up a little! Not only because as my daughter grows I miss the "little her" she used to be, but also because when I was a child my grandmother had a massive lilac bush that was hollow in the middle. My cousins and I used to pretend it was our hideout and would spend hours inside of it. To this day lilacs are my favorite flower because of their scent. Thank you for sharing!
smell is so wonderful, isn't it? I'd love to have a lilac bush.
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