She stood on the tallest piece of furniture, arms raised, legs in a crouching position, ready to jump with her entire being.  Of course, I was standing on high alert waiting to see what great feat she was about to perform.

The last time we had played the “see how far you can jump” game, she wanted me to stand close enough to reach her with my arms.  That episode is covered in  A VERY GROWN UP STORY .  This time, however, she asked for something very different.  She said, “Don’t catch me, Nana, just don’t let me fall.”

She wanted to feel the exhilaration of free jumping and landing on the mattress on her own, but...

The morning sun seemed to kiss the dew on the grass as it rose above the burgeoning lushness of the trees in the backyard.  I noticed several new flower shoots had pushed their way out of the earth ostensibly overnight, extremely noticeable as they were on a particularly barren piece of ground.

A spontaneous grin, not smile, along with an involuntary giggle, interrupted my somber thoughts in a most delightful way, for yesterday I had gone to visit my brother, Alan, in the hospital and was standing at the window praying for him when I saw the sweet greenery on that unsightly bald spot of land.

You see, Alan had planted that flower several years back.  I suppose he must have had mercy on me and...