Flowers for Mary

Yesterday after dinner John played in the back yard while I transplanted our marigold seedlings and picked weeds. There were some gorgeous flowers that had fallen to the ground, so I placed them at the feet of Our Lady's statue, showing John that I was giving her flowers. Well, he promptly gave her his most prized possession of the moment: a giant stick. Then when he saw me picking weeds and tossing them away, he ran and gave those delicately to Mary as well. I tried to explain the difference between plants we like and weeds, but it was beyond him, so I let him continue giving the weeds to Mary.

Last Sunday John began using the title "Virgin Mary" for the first time, instead of just plain Mary. I have been hoping to catch it on video tape, but haven't yet. While we were playing outdoors last night, I noticed John suddenly become still as he spotted something far away, inside the sun room. He walked inside and picked up my house key on a small key chain of Our Lady (the Miraculous Medal). He gasped and declared, "It's the Virgin Mary! The same!" and he pointed to the statue.

John sure does miss his daddy, who is on another business trip. For the last two mornings, John has woken and immediately declared that he had to find Daddy, so I explained again where he is. In the middle of the night last night, John woke and cried for at least 15 minutes, asking for his daddy. The most pathetic of all was this morning when we were loading into the car--John looking particularly adorable wearing his cowboy hat--and John opened the van door, then closed it on his finger. Crunch! He burst into fat weeping tears and my kisses just weren't enough. "I want Daddy! I want Daddy! Oh Daddy, I miss you very much!" Well, this mama got all tearful at the sound of that!