When my oldest daughter, Laurel, would play house as a small child, and I would join her, she'd say, "Mom, we are just girls, together"....she was referring to the two of us, facing the world together. It was a phrase that I'd always associate with her. She's almost 40 now, and lives not too far away from us. Meantime, she's grown up and gotten married, and we now are older ladies, together. With the arrival of Daisy, my grand-daughter, ten years ago, I had another chance to enter that playtime, of 'just girls, together'. It is a delightful gift, like payback time. I get to do all the things Moms enjoyed doing, and more. I get to play like a child, but converse like an adult.
Daisy has been with us here a week, while her Mom is in California, and we have certainly enjoyed the time together. We've gone canoeing, done some hiking, enjoyed daily walks, shopped for clothes, and built up some muscles riding our bikes. We've had glorious weather for reading out in the patio in the afternoons, puttering in the yard, and today we took a picnic lunch along on a bike ride. While we sat on a bench at the University of Puget Sound we talked about the role of women in society, and especially the role of mothers. I told Daisy that as daughters, we hope to live in a manner that will bring comfort to the hearts of our mothers, so they will not worry over us. We talked about courtesy and personal discipline, two traits that make a child esteemed in the eyes of adults.
When we finished our picnic and pedaled home, I washed Daisy's hands, and filed her nails. Then I added polish, a clear polish. Like a typical grandmother I showed her my labor-worn hands, those of a gardner, pot-scrubber, and caregiver. I said hands are meant to provide service, and one is quite fortunate if they can be pretty while doing so. I talked about the beauty of my mother's hands. Even on the last day of her life, as I held them, they were so warm and clean, with the nails filed with rounded points. I remember that being one of the things that always stayed the same about her.
Daisy will be starting the 5th grade soon, and I imagine her hands holding a pencil, erasing a mistake, and starting over again on a lesson. That too is good for hands.
