There's Something About Lily
For a long time I thought maybe we were imagining it. It's possible we're just self-absorbed, overly-doting parents. But sometimes I wonder. Sometimes, there really does seem to be something about Lily. Something about her, something neither of us can pin down, that draws people to her in a very profound way. I don't quite know how to explain it, except to say that when it happens, the otherwise sensible adults that come under her spell do so with something approaching awe and reverance. Somehow, it's not the usual, "oh, look, there's a really cute kid" kind of attention. It's something deeper. It truly mystifies me, but I feel the power of it each time it happens, and I'd be lying if I said that it didn't scare me, just a little, sometimes.
It happened again tonight. Completely out of the blue. We were walking down Queen street, near dark, on our way to see Daddy at work for his dinner break. Out of nowhere came this guy, in his late 20s maybe, who without warning, thrust a freshly-plucked rose as an offering toward Lily and said very seriously and solemnly, "This is for her. She is so precious." How long he had been following us, I don't know. But the rose was clearly from a nearby bush, not store bought, and with the thorns carefully removed for a little girl's delicate hands.
All I can say is heaven help us when she's 16...
It happened again tonight. Completely out of the blue. We were walking down Queen street, near dark, on our way to see Daddy at work for his dinner break. Out of nowhere came this guy, in his late 20s maybe, who without warning, thrust a freshly-plucked rose as an offering toward Lily and said very seriously and solemnly, "This is for her. She is so precious." How long he had been following us, I don't know. But the rose was clearly from a nearby bush, not store bought, and with the thorns carefully removed for a little girl's delicate hands.
All I can say is heaven help us when she's 16...
posted by Amy at 9:36 PM
5 Comments:
Lily is a beautiful child. You do feel a special feeling when one is near her in person or by far. We enjoy the blog so much 1200 miles away. It feels like we are closer to you. Innocence is so precious... I pray he was not stalking you both. People are strange sometimes. Not to burst a bubble, but just to keep eyes behind your head open.
Thank you for the kind words.
No, he was not stalking us, though he did certainly surprise me. His offering was clearly very kindly meant.
Still, this sort of thing can be very disconcerting. It happens with enough regularity, though, that I can now usually recognize it for the remarkable, if strange, phenomenon that it is.
When we were in Savannah, and you were off shopping for something, I pushed Lily in the stoller down the waterfront walk. A street blues musician sat on a wall, leaned on his guitar, and watched us coming a long way: Watched her innocent, blonde, blue-eyed radiance. As we got closer he caught my eye and said, in his bluesman rumble, "better get a shot-gun."
Of course there is something special about Lily =) She's adorable!
Yes, and she has that magic power to almost lure us in, "hmm...now she makes parenthood look fun..."
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