Socks for Natalie

Tonight as Roslyn was getting ready for bed, she took off her three pairs of socks and handed me the outer pair she'd been wearing, a pair of Barbie socks that barely covered her heels because they are too small. She gave them to me and said, "Mommy, tomorrow I want you to wash these socks and fold them up and put them in Natalie's room.... because they're too small for me." I had to fight back the tears. Oh, sweet Roslyn, what an awesome big sister you are. How I wish Natalie could wear your hand-me-down socks. I'm sure she would have really liked them.

Easter bunny

Roslyn had a good Easter this year. We decorated eggs, we made carrot cake, and we decorated the house. The Easter Bunny left her a hint in one of the eggs he hid as to the location of her Easter basket. She read it and figured it out and voila! There is was. It was delightful. We had a nice, relaxing day.

As on every holiday, my mind often wandered to sweet little Natalie, though. We only had one Easter with her. We spent it in New York. Natalie wore an adorable pink dress that had been Roslyn's the year before. Here's a picture from that trip of my sweet baby who I miss every second of every day.

"Super hero"

This week is "reading week" in the Providence public schools. They invite parents to come in and read to their child's class. I happily volunteered to do this, thinking that it would be something Roslyn would really enjoy and remember. So, yesterday I went to the K-2 class and read Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, the book Roslyn requested. It's a lovely story written in 1939 about a man and his steam shovel, which had become obsolete in the face of new technology. After successfully completing a daunting task, Mike Mulligan and his beloved steam shovel, Mary Ann, found themselves stuck in the cellar they had dug for the new town hall of Popperville. Nobody knew how to get them out. And then a little boy had a great idea to turn Mary Ann into the furnace for the new town hall. It's a wonderful example of the go-green mantra "reduce, reuse, recycle." Pretty enlightened for 1939.

I really enjoyed the whole experience of sitting in front of those bright young faces, having them greet me "good morning, Mrs. Adamo," and reading the story. When I picked Roslyn up from school, her teacher handed me a stack of thank-you cards and pictures the kids made for me. One little boy wrote, "Ms. Adamo is a super hero." That, along with the beaming smile on Roslyn's face made my day.