Vera's Letter

Dear Vera,

You are now at the age of three and one half (as you say). I love that you are such a girly-girl and want to wear the "crappy shoes" and fluffy, pink, princess dresses; that you are the absolute opposite of your mommy!I love that you shriek at the boys to "Look at me now!" and wait for them to see you do a pirouette. Then, the next minute you are forcing them to wrestle with you and decide the "belly-whomper" move is appropriate.

Now that you are in pre-school, you have begun to be aware of the world around you. You are more interested in where you came from:

Mommy, when Daddy was a little boy, a long time ago, where was I?

You weren't born yet.

But where was I? Was I dead?

No, you were waiting to be born.

But, where?

I love how sweet you can be when you know that Auntie is sad:

Auntie, where's Jessie?

Jessie died.

Is she sick?

She was sick. But she died.

Could you take her to the doctor to get a shot and she'll be better?

We did that, but, she was old and couldn't get better.

Where is she now?

I remember when you were staying with Uncle Ed and me when your house flooded and you couldn't find your "damn cat." You searched everywhere in our house for Harley but that "damn cat" couldn't be found. He was actually hiding on the top of our dresser, but you were too short to see him.

I am thrilled that you LOVE the Wizard of Oz. I am amazed that the wicked witch didn't scare the pants off of you when she made her debut, but, you were strong and didn't flinch. I love showing you my new ornaments that Uncle Ed buys me for Christmas every year because I know that you enjoy them as much as me.

My favorite, though, is how you make Bop smile. It is fun to watch him tease you and make you laugh. It reminds me of when your mommy and I were little and he did those things to us. I know that he misses you very much now that you have gone back to live in your brand new house.

You and Munka have power struggles. I laugh when you try to tell Munka how it's going to be and watch Munka dig in for the fight. More often than not, Munka is the winner of these struggles because she is more stubborn than you. Don't hold this against her. She will always win and it's better if you learn this now.

Vera, you have a giant future ahead of you. I hope that your curiosity never leaves you. I hope that you never lose your fierceness and the side of you that makes me want to have my own children.

Love you bunches,
Auntie