“Good Night”

TODAY: Spend some time looking back and consider how your love of God has changed your dreams. Then offer this prayer by Marian Wright Edelman: Oh God, in this America where values seem to change every day like fads and fashions and MTV, help me to cling to God, who changes not.

I reach for the bubbles as a smile comes across Scotty’s face. If you ask him, he will tell you that he’s not 4 – he’s 4 ½. He’ll tell you his big brother Ben is his best friend. He’ll tell you he’s excited because today we are going to play with bubbles.

“Whoa, that one’s as big as me!” Scotty exclaims. We both begin to giggle, watching the bubbles float through the air. I turn around just as Ben turns on the hose and splashes water all over me. I start to yell but decide on a worse punishment. He screams for me to stop as I tickle his stomach. As he finally turns off the hose, I yell, “I’ll race you inside!” They both run, almost tripping over their own feet from their laughter. I reach for the bubbles and follow them inside.

Sometimes it seems as if I spend more time at the Fletcher house than my own. I’ve been coming here long enough to know that the next thing on Scotty’s mind is “special milk” — milk with strawberry sauce. I reach for his Winnie-the-Pooh cup, and I think I have it all under control. Then there are also those days that say to me: Not so fast. Like the day last spring, when I decided it would be fun to let them put on their bathing suits in a seemingly harmless attempt to make bath time a little more interesting. When I saw Ben smile as he reached for a bucket, I knew it was going to be a long night. Thirty minutes later, I was soaking wet from head to toe standing in the pool of water that had accumulated on the bathroom floor.

However, today is not nearly so hectic. Scotty and I sit down to play Nintendo, and after we have lost more games than I can count, he reassures me: “Don’t worry, Allison. I tried my hardest.” He puts on his Superman pajamas and picks out the Thomas the Tank Engine book for me to read. Again. I think I have it memorized now, but it is still his favorite. I start to read, but before I get to the fourth page, Scotty is already asleep. I pull up the covers, and whisper, “Good night.” As I walk toward the door, I reach for the light switch and think, “If only everything in life could be so simple.”

— Allison Heeter