Translated…
After Heidi Finishes Hearing, She Was, Lost in Thought for a Bit, Then Asked, “You Can Write a Letter Because You’re Grateful?”, “Yeah, Those Words You Can’t Tell the Other Person Aloud, You Can Write Them All Down; if the Two of You are Separated, and Can’t See One Another Often Enough, You Can Also Write the Letters, and Have the Mail Carriers Help with the Deliveries.”………
The Campout Underneath the Cherry Blossom Trees
I’d received a card with words of gratitude written all over it from a student of mine. On the card, there was a picture of a pink cherry blossom tree, and, in the pink, there was also, sprinkles of gold dusts too. My two-years and ten-months old granddaughter Heidi saw, she couldn’t let it go she’d loved it so very much, asked, “Who, is this for?”, I’d told her, “This, is a card from a student to grandma.” “Why a card for you? Does she, love you very much?”, she’d prodded. I’d become, stumped all of a sudden, but, from the written words of my cards, Heidi had, guessed it correct, and so, I’d made a bold deduction, “I think so, yes!”
It seemed, that Heidi loved this card very much, as she’d kept asking me things about it, “What is this tree?”, “It’s a cherry blossom”, “Why do the flowers glow? Is there light on it?” “No, it’s from the reflections of the sunlight, making things shine and twinkle”………an assortment of inquiries such as these, this was how she’d shown, that she’d, wanted something. And so, I’d, torn off the tiny heart with words written on it, that was independent from the card, and gave her the hard greeting card with the cherry blossom prints to her.
She was so very excited, and asked me, although she already knew the answer, “Why does grandma give it to me?”, “What do you think?” “Because grandma loves me.” that’s correct, I’d continued, “My student loved me, that was why she’d sent me a card; I love you, and knew you loved this pretty looking card, and so, I’d, given it to you, but, the words from my student written on the inside is very precious, I must, keep it for myself.” She’d held on to the card, lost in thought, then, went to get her toy calculator, and, keyed in some numbers, and, as she’d pressed on the keys, she’d stated, “This, is the compassion grandma gave to me, I must, keep it, I will now, record it down.” She’d used this calculator, as a machine that kept track of the ins and outs of her life.
I’d told her, “This cherry tree is so huge, so beauty, we can pretend, we’re, walking underneath it.” Heidi immediately killed two birds with one stone, added, “Grandma can tell stories underneath the tree to me and my younger sister.” She’d placed the card upright on the table, the card stood, like a tent, spread open, Heidi said, “We can also, sleep underneath this tent, and with our head toward the skies to see the cherry blossoms”, then, she’d squeezed herself, into the transparent tabletops, lifted up her head, as if she was right underneath the cherry blossoms, looking at the flowers.
“Such huge imagination she has!”, I’d started feeling that sense of awe inside of me. And so, I’d upped the ante, that why not, she goes and finds her baby sister, and let’s all, lie on that sofa bed in the study, and place the card high, over all our heads, t hen, let’s go out camping underneath these cherry blossoms.
The Very First Letter I’d Ever Written
After seven months, (when Heidi was three years and five months old), early one evening, her younger sister, A-Nor started searching inside of my purse, and got a card her mother wrote to me. Her older sister Heidi saw, asked curiously, “What, is it?” “A letter your mommy wrote to grandma and grandpa.” “Why does mommy write to grandma and grandpa?” “Because grandma and grandpa had, looked after you both a lot lately, she’d especially wrote a thank-you card for grandma, grandpa.”
“What’s on it?”, she’d become, even more curious. Grandma lowered her voice, mysteriously, “This was, originally, a secret, but, since you wanted to know, I’ll, share the secret with you then.” I’d, started reading the letter to her.
After Heidi finished hearing me, she’d become, lost in thought a while, then asked, “You can write a letter, because you’re thankful?” “Yeah, the words you don’t feel comfortable saying aloud, you can write it; if you are living too far from the person, you can also write, and have the mail carriers to deliver it to you.”
Heidi thought for a little while, and told Grandma all of a sudden, “I want to write a letter too, but I don’t know how to write.” Grandma told her, that she’s willing to, write for her, provide her with this, free service. She’d said, that she’d wanted to write letters to her two best friends, Brooke and QQ. And so, she’d dictated, and grandma had, written down the words. The following was, her very first, written letter: “Brooke & QQ
Thank you for coming to my house to play doctor with me. I want to make a rice treat for the two of you. Love, Heidi”.
She’d also, drawn the pictures of hearts and the rice treat on the back of the papers too.
After she’d done written the letter, she’d become more and more satisfied with herself, and started putting on her clothes, her shoes too, took the letter, to the post office, ready to mail. Grandma told her, “You don’t know the addresses for Brooke and QQ, the mail carrier couldn’t deliver it for you. …………How’s this, Grandma post it on Facebook, and have Brooke and QQ come read it, how’s that?”
And so, on Facebook, Heidi’s very first written letter was posted, two hours later, Brooke’s mom, Apple, posted the heartfelt replies that Brooke had for Heidi on my Facebook page, “Brooke really misses Heidi! Thank you, Heidi!”, and attached a photo of Brooke, saying thanks on screen. Heidi was so happy, and pressed to give a kudos personally. Two and a half hours later, QQ’s mom, Amy too, sent a photo of a rice ball, with, “QQ said, this, is the rice ball for Heidi”. Heidi’s eyes glowed, not only was she giving a kudos now, she’d also, kindly, invited her younger sister to sit there with her, the two of them took turns, using their tiny hands, pretended to, take the rice ball and placed them into their mouths. The friends on FB chimed in, they’d all stated, “Grandma now has an extra job: transcribing!”
Sending it to Her Younger Sister’s Rainbows
Without realizing, that after Heidi had her first taste of sweetened replies from written communications, she’d decided, to keep it going. About a month later (when she’s three and a half years old), one evening, after her younger sister fell asleep, she’d gotten super bored, and in the company of her aunt, she’d drawn, the picture of a rainbow. And maybe, it’d, made a connection of past events for her, she ran into the study, and showed it off to grandma, “This is the rainbow for my baby sis.”, I’d pretended to be so surprised, exclaimed, “A-Nor is so lucky, having a good big sister who loves her so.” Heidi was so happy, said, I want to write something on it, “Will Grandma help?”
I’d told her no problem at all, I’d picked up a pen, asked her what she’d wanted to write? Heidi told me, “I don’t want grandma to write, I want you, to help me write.” She’d picked a red pastel and tried out the color on the sheet close by. I’d said, that people don’t write others’ names in pink, that it’s, bad luck; she’d switched to a yellow pen, after a few strokes, it was, barely visible; and so, she’d take up, a blue-inked pen. She said, “I’ll dictate, and you teach me to write it.” She’d gotten into the position of writing, to allow me to hold her hand, she’d wanted to, do it herself (I can’t believe, how short-lived my career of a transcriber was, only once, then, I’d gotten, fired!), and so, I’d taken her little hand, and, wrote the words she’d dictated with her:
“A Rainbow for A-Nor, from Heidi, 12.27”
Half an hour later, her baby sister woke up, and started crying loudly in the bedroom behind us. Heidi ran in first, happily, took along this picture she’d drawn up for her younger sister as a gift to her. But, her younger sister was still in distress of waking up, slung her drawings away, out of the crib, said, “I don’t want it! No!”, and her older sister climbed off the bed, and picked it up, said angrily, “I will NEVER give anything to you again, why did you throw the rainbow I drew for you away?”
Grandma picked up the crying younger sister, and explained to the older sister, “Your younger sister didn’t mean it, she’d not yet awaken for real, she’s still dreaming. Wait until she’s completely awake, then, she’ll thank you for the drawing of such a beautiful rainbow then.”, the older sister couldn’t understand, started muffling up, “She’d started speaking, how can she still be half asleep?”, ahhhhhhhhhh! Toward this, unavoidable conflicting condition, grandma too, had, become, stumped.
I’d all of a sudden, remembered, the sighs of an article, “On Fatherhood” by Feng Dzi Kai. Early in the morning in spring, he’d heard the chicken vendors hollered aloud, he’d thrown his pen away, rushed down stairs, after his young children who were, on their ways out the door, started bartering with the man with the vendors, but the children hurried him, with that look of “buy it! Buy it!”, and, toward the picky vendor, and the children who were then, crying aloud, because the deal didn’t go through, he’d wanted to, give them a lesson on the techniques of negotiating, “When you see something you want, you should say, that you’d not liked it.” But, in this bright and early, shiny spring morn, he’d said quietly to himself, “How, can an adult teach his children to behave like so?”, by the same token, underneath this same light of the dusk, where is, the place of the words I’d told a young child of a little over three, “the worst of life is yet to come, you must, learn, to accept how things don’t and won’t always, go your way in life!” So, this, would be the interaction of a child, with the world around, and, from this, you can see, how children are, picking up on information that you, the adults don’t even know that you are, sending out, and because that, is just how sensitive children are, that, is why we, the adults, must be extra careful what we say and do in front of them, because they will pick it up, even if the signals we’d given out are, so subtle, they will, pick it up, and take the ways of interactions as their own, because that, is how kids model after their adult counterparts.