Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The Bella-est of Ellas

It's been a rough week for me, and it's only Tuesday. Sunday was especially hard. I spent the morning booking my plane tickets and my sister's tickets, and as I was picking out flights to Albany, it suddenly occurred to me that this may be my last trip to Albany for years and years. Now that Nona is gone, I really have no reason to visit there. I do have an aunt and uncle and some cousins living in Albany, but we're not all that close, unfortunately. It also really hit while I was making reservations that Nona is gone. We had to go to a house-warming party on Sunday afternoon, and I teared up in the car on the way to the party just thinking about it all.

Yesterday wasn't much better. It was the first day of spring break, and it was pouring. Plus Lily woke up with a runny nose, sore throat and fever. Sigh. Late in the day, when I had run out of ideas to keep the girls busy, I let them pick out a movie, provided they could agree on one. They selected Ella Enchanted, which is a cute little movie with Anne Hathaway.

The girls loved the movie, singing and dancing along with the musical numbers. I sat and knit and kept an eye on Destructo-Campbell. As an extra treat I also made popcorn, which was a big hit. The day ended well, with happy kids, but I was still blue.

When I climbed into bed, I stuck my hand under my pillow to fluff it up and found a note from Ella, written on her own card. It said:

Dear Mom,
Thank you for Ella Enchtd. I like the movie.
Love, Ella

Finding the note tucked in my pillows was just the nicest surprise. I thought it was incredibly sweet that Ella thought to write the note and then thought to hide it away for me. This morning, when Ella and I were snuggling on the sofa, I thanked for the note and told her it made me smile. She got that funny little look she gets when she's embarassed. Ella, without knowing it, really lifted my spirits.

Kids are good for something after all.

3 comments:

Chicago Sarah said...

My condolences on your Nona. It's never easy to lose someone we love...

Your Ella sounds wonderful (my own beloved Grammy's name, incidentally).

MadMad said...

It's hard, isn't it? You think that because a person is a grandmother, and older, or far away, or whatever, that it's not going to affect us as much... but I think any death does; it's a part of our life that goes, too - and it brings up all the memories - and all THOSE losses, too. (Like never going to Albany again.) I'm sorry.

Anonymous said...

You know I'm thinking of you.

How awesome that your Ella is taking care of you (and I LOVE that movie - Prince Char WALKED on this floor!!!!! GIRLS! Stop LICKING the FOY-YAY!)