Redhead of the Day

This post has been long overdue. I have had a writers block trying to come up with a blog fitting of this. It's a given I think that parents of special needs children have a tough job. Parents in general have a tough job. What about the siblings of these special needs children? We were blessed with A~man when he was 4.5 months old and 17 months later we were doubly blessed with a little bundle that we were not supposed to be able to conceive. This post is about Z~girl and how totally special she is as a daughter, sister, and friend. Her spunk delights and often times tests my patience (I joke that she could argue with a wall) but I would not want her to be any other way than what God made her to be. She was given that spunk for a reason and I adore it. There is a reason for her spark and it will cause her to excell in all that she tries.

As a family we love going out in the communtity to restaurants, walking downtown, or even the grocery store. Ever since they were babes I would take them to walk (in a stroller)in our charming downtown as that is where my husband worked and is back working once more. It is a truth that because of A~mans outgoingness (not a word) that he steals the show. But Z's spectacular strawberry blonde wavy hair (she gets mad if I say that she says it IS RED :) causes HER to get attention. I'm bragging but even on the days (and there are many hahah) she refuses to brush that wild mane...it remains GORGEOUS.

A couple years ago we were at one of our favorite breakfast places and met the most charming white haired woman. It was one of those times when you just know you were meant to meet a new friend. We were lucky enough to run into her several times over a length of time and the kids would always keep an eye out to see if Karen was there. One of the times A~man was in a funk. I do not remember what the issue was but most likely he had gotten in trouble at home and was clammed up and unusually quiet. This gave Z~girl her moment to shine. She had a delightful conversation with this sweet woman and they have/had a lot in common. A love for books, words, and writing. Not long ago we ran into Karen (I have her permission to say her name) and she said that she wrote a poem about Z and that there would be a library reading of her poem and others from a book that was published by a group of lovely creative souls.

Last week we went to that reading and it was delightful! I hope to share a few in my blog in the next few weeks but for now I will share the one by Karen Heggen about my Z~girl-

Redhead of the Day

How long ago did it start,
this tendency to look each day
for the favorite redhead?

One recent restaurant redhead
was a girl of seven, a girl
with an abundance of fizzy
shoulder-length light-red hair, a girl
whose talkative ten-year-old brother
usually got most of the attention.

On the day that turned the tables
he was in a blue funk at breakfast,
sat pouting, while she and I started
talking across the aisle about her accomplishments.
For me, the details slipped away as days
went by, but for the child, the joy remained.

Weeks later, while I was driving home,
miles away from where she and I
had met, I heard a car honk, looked
toward the left lane, and there she was
with her parents her whole face beaming
at me, arms waving, red hair bouncing,
that enthusiasm repeated at several
red lights along the next mile or more.

My whole body began to smile, my
heart grew full all the way home.
No grandma I may be, but my daily
dose of redheads brings joy to me.

by Karen Heggen

The book this was published in is called A Long and Winding Road. It is the Ninth Anthology of The Seasoned Poets of the Blue Ridge. I hope to share some more out of it soon. The poems are full of many laughs, tears, and memories as the years go by. I love them! Oh and when we were in the store last week a different poet recognized Z from the reading. She was on cloud nine my precious redhead.