The Osborne-Goweys: The crinkle in the sheets

Monday, October 29, 2012

The crinkle in the sheets

LJ at my office earlier in the day.

Have you ever heard your child's bed crinkle when tucking them in? I'm not talking about the sound of the wet-protection cover. Or books on the bed. Or fresh lined dried sheets. I'm talking about a real, authentic snap and crackle.

I just heard it.

And it truly startled me. Not because it was a foreign sound. No. Not at all. In fact, it is quite a familiar sound. Rather, it was shocking because the sound was so out of context. Much like seeing someone you vaguely know but only ever in a certain situation. Then you see them outside of that context and they look very familiar but you're not sure quite why. And then it hits you. That sort of startling.

So I investigated. Upon investigating found - tucked between his sheets, between his blankets, under his pillow, tucked beside his bed and the wall, tucked in nearly every nook and cranny of his bed - Fall leaf after Fall leaf. Everywhere.

And suddenly, like a bolt, I remembered how earlier in the day he'd come running up to me and told me how excited he was to find Fall leaves everywhere while on a morning walk with mummy. He'd said to me, with such a proud look in his eyes, that he'd collected them and I had remembered wondering at that moment what he did with them, but hadn't asked.

Holding this handfull of Fall leaves I'd gathered from his bed, I turned around to look at him and the biggest, beaming, "I'm so proud of myself" and "I told you I found the leaves" smile bathed his entire face. It was truly remarkable to behold. Rather than chide him for having leaves in his bed - as my first inclination was to do - I just gathered him up in my arms, hugged him tight, and told him how truly proud of him I am. (I'm choking back the tears right now just remembering it as I type this). He is truly a remarkable person.