"In the great green room there was a telephone
And a red balloon
And a picture of--
The cow jumping over the moon
And there were three little bears, sitting on chairs
And two little kittens and a pair of mittens
And a little toy house and a young mouse
And a comb and a brush and bowl full of mush
And a quiet old lady who was whispering "hush".
"Goodnight room
Goodnight moon
Goodnight cow jumping over the moon
Goodnight light and the red balloon
Goodnight bears goodnight chairs
Goodnight kittens goodnight mittens
Goodnight clocks and goodnight socks"
"Goodnight little house and goodnight mouseTwenty-five years ago today, a quarter of a century past... a girl child was born. She was loved and cherished and nurtured and taught from the beginning... even before she was born. Goodnight Moon... a simple story with bright primary color illustrations became a nightly ritual... her mom read it before she was born and every night, beginning on her first night home from the hospital. First words... mama... dada.... and "moon". She knew the words to the entire book before she could read and wore out many copies... board book, hardback, paperback... I don't remember how many we finally ended up with. I patched and taped the pages together in this cherished work for many years.
Goodnight comb and goodnight brush
Goodnight nobody goodnight mush
And goodnight to the old lady whispering "hush"
Goodnight stars, goodnight air
Goodnight noises everywhere."
~ Margaret Wise Brown, Goodnight Moon, 1947
Today, she turns 25... on Easter... her birthday falling on this day for the first and likely the last time in her life. (or at least that is what she tells me). All grown up and too far away to bake a cake for, we simply celebrate over the phone and with cards and as she has also told me... with blog posts. She checked.. it wasn't up... she was disappointed... but I have been behind all my life.. all her life. When I sat down to go through some pictures and think about the past 25 years, my eyes misted.. such a long time it seems and yet it was gone in an instant...those baby smells and sounds of learning to laugh.. those funny things she said as a little toddler...the excitement of going to school and taking her first piano lesson... the joy of watching her help another and realizing that she was learning life lessons.... the harrowing job of teaching her to drive...."watch the mailboxes, watch the mailboxes!!!...the pride at seeing her graduate... from kindergarten, high school, college, master's degree and one more left for the future. All these moments and more contained in 25 years of memories.
I don't like to be in pictures or post pictures that I'm in... but I will make this one exception. Please note and then disregard the amazingly out of date glasses and the frizzed out hair... remember, I had just been through 48 hours of unsuccessful induction of labor and a C-section... so taking that into account, I didn't look half bad. At least both Nyssa and I were asleep... we needed it... we were both exhausted from the process of new life. So, this is what I was doing 25 years ago today at exactly this time of day... 5PM.
Happy Birthday Sweet Pea!!!!
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