Reading to them

As the fifth anniversary approaches, no matter what we try to do, the days become emotionally charged, and any little unexpected events can catch you off-guard so quickly. Last Sunday, something really special happened.

As a parent I want to protect my child from any hurt, including emotional "ouchies". So, I don't know how, or when I will be able to explain to my boy about the story of his three siblings up in heaven. I don't want him to experience the deep sorrow that his mommy and I feel when these days come each year. But I also can see that as he grows older he is starting to understand things better. Even as a 3-year toddler, he is surprises me of his awareness of life around him. I pray I have the wisdom and the right words for him, when the times comes. And be able to give him the comforts and peace that God has given me too.

For some time now, he knows that he has three "Heaven Babies". And we try to make it a fun, like it is so cool that he has that. But we don't go into any detail beyond that. We don't want him to realize about the loss of being able to actually growing up with them, playing with them, or seeing them, like he sees mommy and daddy every day.

If you follow my blog you will know that we have these three chicks (Pink, Blue and Yellow) that represent a beautiful memory of our triplets. And I keep them inside my nightstand drawer. One day my son found them, and from time to time, he likes to play with them a lot. I think he senses that these specific stuffed animals mean a lot to his daddy. And each time I see him holding them very close to him, it gives me little tears here and there.

Also, my sister gave him a little Spanish Bible for kids, with lots of cool pictures and easy reading stories. So each night I read a different story to him, and he loves that routine for his night time sleeping. Usually when I leave his room, he keeps the book with him, and I can hear him mimicking me "reading" his book, until he falls sleep.

Going back to what happened on last Sunday: while getting ready for church, Jace was playing with the triplet chicks. I was getting the clothes ready, when I turn around and he had placed all three of them on his little pillow, and started reading a "story" to them. So, I ran to my room to get the camera, to hopefully capture the moment. And I got it!

In this snapshot I was able to capture Jace reading a story to the "Heaven Babies". He was reciting the portion of baby Jesus being born, and that the angels said: "do not be afraid". And then he went off into a mix of many other stories he creates on his own.

Also, I love that I was able to capture the bright sunlight coming down through his window. It was like his siblings, the triplets, were actually there, listening to him "reading" a story to them. Then all sudden he stopped reading the book and turned to me and this was the conversation we had:

Jace: "daddy, were these 'pollitos' come from?"
Me: "they are from the Heaven Babies?"
Jace: "oh, and the heaven babies are 'muy, muy arriba'?"
Me: "yes, they are"
Jace: (with a sad face) "daddy, I want to see them..."
Me: (after a long pause) "... yes, one day you will meet them."

At this point I was so overwhelmed with emotion, that I had to walk away to sob a little in the hallway.

~ ♥ ~

Since I'm teaching him to be bilingual, right now he mixes both languages in the same sentence, and all my conversation sentences with him are all in Spanish, but to make understandable here I wrote them in English. The meaning of his few Spanish words are:

Pollitos means little chicks, or baby birds, or hatchlings.
Muy, muy arriba means very, very high, or up.

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