Scarlett

Scarlett Star on Sunday

Last Saturday Scarlett and I walked to Brooktree Park, near our house.  On the way we held hands, and she asked me if I was afraid. 

“Of what?” I asked her, smiling.

“Are you scared of a skeleton?”  (Imagine this word coming out of the mouth of an adorable three-year-old)

I couldn’t help laughing.  I laughed so hard that she laughed with me.  “Grandma, you’re so funny!”

We got to the playground and she began climbing everything—she climbs like an Olympic athlete.  You would never guess that the baby born to our son Vince and our daughter-in-law, Rikki, ever struggled with anything in her whole life. 

In truth, Scarlett Star entered the world after a particularly turbulent labor (I was there through it all and cannot forget the images of her trying to be born).  She was born in Farmington, New Mexico three years ago today—the first grandchild to be born after Mario and I returned from Africa.  After her mother delivered her, Scarlett was placed under lamps to help her recover from jaundice.  She was watched and monitored for three extra days in the hospital, and finally got to come home. 

I remember those days because I secretly worried that Scarlett’s rough beginning might be indicative of coming struggles she might have with her health. 

“It’s not our job to worry,” Mario would tell me. “It’s our job to pray for her.  We can be fearless because God is faithful!”

Scarlett --7 months  old

God has been faithful with Scarlett – she has flourished, growing into a cool kind of warrior princess, fearless and filled with life.  She loves reading, drawing, playing with Legos, and most of all, climbing everything that looks like fun—even stuff  that she is not supposed to climb.

Today this girl turns three!! Where did the years go? I wonder how many years I will have in the beautiful wonder of her magical childhood…

Every Saturday, Mario and I babysit her while her parents go out.  Usually, we go to the park or someplace where she can run.  She hurls sticks across fields and I imagine her one day throwing a javelin.  She leaps over clumps of grass, and I see her running the hurdles.  Last Saturday, when we went to the park together, she ascended a steel ladder on the playground, meant to be ascended  by older kids.  She made it look so easy, even as I stood beneath her with that grandmotherly look on my face…

It was only then that I realized why she asked me why I was scared.  I use a silly ploy (sometimes) to get Scarlett to hold my hand: I tell her I’m scared to walk alone.

An independent little girl, Scarlett wants to run ahead in most things.  She charges into many situations with fearless abandon, just like many kids do.  The flip-side of this fearless personality is that she is tender and sensitive, especially thoughtful of those around her.   

I guess that’s why I tried this to motivate Scarlett, asking her to hold my hand—by telling her that I am scared to walk alone.  

Maybe I shouldn’t tell her  "Hold my hand because I'm scared!"   I can rest in the thought that God is faithful with her!  Happy birthday, dear Scarlett -- we miss you but we'll see you later!!

Grandma