Ella and Virginia oft flitter about in costume, assuming romantic and fantastical roles. We have no princesses here; rather, fairy princess ballerinas. And though Ella can barely steady herself to walk a straight line, she is the self-proclaimed mademoiselle Ella Fairy Princess Ballerina, to whose "royal command" we are all subject. She is in fact our own little tyrant, but we indulge her fantasies, so long as those fantasies do not infringe upon the rights of others. Luckily for Ella, Virginia is quite accommodating and will most often assume whatever role Ella assigns to her. So versatile is Virginia, that she happily marches in parade as a rabid animal, and just as happily steps in as interim Fairy Princess Ballerina.
The girls' roles today were less extravagant (though their costumes were fancy as ever). Virginia was simply "husband," while Ella was "wife." Dismayed that she donned blue whilst her wife dressed in white, Virginia wondered if a bride could ever wear blue. I assured her that though white is the traditional bridal color, a bride may wear whatever color she wishes. What a relief! Unlike her childhood wife, Virgina will wear not white when she marries, of this she is certain. In her words: "When I am a bride, I will wear blue, and I will be married forever. You get married for forever, right mommy?" Not wanting to get into "as long as we both shall live," I assured her simply that marriage is forever. Satisfied with my response, Virginia went about her play; Ella, however, decided to challenge me and asked, "how is marriage for forever when people who get married also get unmarried?"
A sad but insightful question. I'm still not sure how I should have responded.
Ella declared tonight at dinner that she would never marry, and my heart sunk--until she explained that she wants simply to remain forever a little girl. She wants never to leave me. I could kiss her. Virginia declared aspirations of a forever marriage and many babies, declared that she will happily leave. I could kiss her too.
As time passes, these girls will imagine and reimagine their futures. My heart is joyful yet heavy as I consider how their perceptions will change, how my girls will grow. Each day I am more certain of Love, Love begotten, not made. We get to share in creation, and what lovely creations children are.
A side note: Jude began really walking today. And he gave me his first kiss, probably a mistake on his part. Previously when we've asked for kisses, he has consistently slapped our faces.
3 comments:
I appreciate Ella's PCness - "husband and wife" instead of "man and wife." And congrats on Jude's kisses! Zane's been giving us kisses for a few weeks now and it's way better than walking (I say that because he's not even close to walking)!
You'll need to read this post at both girls' weddings.
Go Jude! It must have been all that walkin' and kissin' Lucas showed him last weekend :)
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