“Every person needs recognition. It is expressed by the child who says, “Mother, let’s play darts. I’ll throw the darts and you say, ‘Wonderful.’” — Unknown
I am thinking about my daughter April, who has called me every day during the pandemic. I tell her, “I don’t want to be a burden to you,” but she insists the burden is not knowing if I am OK.
If I black out and can’t push my security pendant … she wants to make sure someone will check on me. I tell her she doesn’t have to worry and call, but oh, how I love to spend time with just the two of us, sharing our day.
When April came into our lives, we announced her arrival by sending out pink cards with a floral design. We wrote, “There’s a whisper of spring in our hearts, April is here!”
April Ann Elizabeth was a happy baby. She grew up to be a happy teenager, and now she is a happy wife and mother. Taking her hand while galloping overseas, she grew up adjusting to all the trials and traumas we endured in foreign countries. She learned early on to consider them adventures or sprees.
Ask her about the time we could not find a taxi to take us home after an air show in Lima, Peru, where tourists never go. We had to walk blocks and blocks before we found a cab. I’m sure she left her footprints embedded in the sidewalks, because she was a bit upset.
She did what she could to liven up our life. Her first grade teacher wrote this comment on her report card: “Helpful but talkative.”
Her swim instructor at the YMCA will never forget her. After six weeks of beginning swim lessons, in order to pass the test, all the students had to jump from the diving board into the deep water and swim to the edge.
Anxious parents nervously sat in the bleachers to watch this frightening event. As the swimmers passed by, clinging to the edge of the pool, April glanced up into the bleachers and when she saw me she yelled, “We’re going to the deep end, no matter what! Mom, I love you!” Everyone laughed. To this day, when a moment of crisis arrives, we turn to each other and say, “We are going to the deep end, no matter what!”
Yes, she is animated. Yes, she is witty. When she was in fifth grade, we established a motto, or what we called our philosophy of life. “You,” the sunflower said to the sun, just like that, in tones of mockery. “YOU! Huh! Where’s your stem?”
April loves music. She learned to play the piano as quickly as I could drop quarters in the dish by the keyboard for every half-hour she practiced. Then it was the flute. She sang in school choirs and now she sings with her daughters. Sophia and Chloe know all her Girl Scout-church camp sing-along-in-the-car songs.
She has all the common sense I never inherited. As we traveled on planes and trains across the world, she was the anchor that kept me focused.
She graduated from high school in Malaysia with classmates who spoke several different languages. She graduated from my alma mater. Then off to law school, where she earned her law degree. My favorite photo of her is from her graduation ceremony, where she is wearing her Juris Doctor gown while holding the hand of 2-year-old Sophia and cradling her baby daughter, Chloe, in her arms. She went to the deep end, no matter what!
And whenever she drops by for a visit, I can hear it … that whisper of spring in my heart that says, “April is here!”
April’s gingersnaps
1/2 cup Crisco, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1/4 cup molasses, 2 cups sifted flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp cloves, 1 tsp ginger.
Cream Crisco, sugar, and egg until fluffy. Add molasses and then sifted dry ingredients. Form into little balls and roll in sugar. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. They will crack on top when done.
