It was mid May when the Blue Butterfly jumped on Peter Pan’s back and headed north, second state to the right of Connecticut- Rhode Island- “The State by the Sea”. After rushing through the city for roughly an hour with my dear friend and comrade in poetry, Barbara, we pick up her daughter, the little Princess Anna. This animated little burst of energy had only to grab her toothbrush and a pair of socks for a surprise weekend visit with her mommy who lives in Rhode Island. We three braved the wilds of Port Authority for the four hour bus ride to One Peter Pan Way in Providence, RI.
The next morning Barbara’s other daughter, little Miss Patty girl, returned from her father’s house to wake Anna with her morning greeting:
“Wake up Anna, I’m here Anna, I love you Anna.”
(What choice words do you usually wake up to?)
I wake to the sound of the girls giggling in the next room and a myriad of birds chattering beyond the window. We needed a few more ingredients from the store to make our breakfast stellar, so after drinking my cup of Tazo Well Being Tea, “Rest,” the entertained me with a much needed DANCE BREAK!
ROCK STAR POSE!
And out the door I go.
Now, although Barbara insisted I take her three-year-old Patty girl with me to the store for directional guidance, my ego would not allow it. I'm grown! I also suck at directions whether inner state or out of the country. (Hmm, what were those directions again?) Not even eight hours in Rhode Island and already I’m lost. Who was I kidding? Yet the walk was so beautiful I truly didn’t mind. Picture: a flock of geese take over the Junior High School football field; gardens rich with red, deep purple and bright, brilliant white flowers; long stretches of road with trees in the distance, lined-up like sentinels. One tree was split so far down the middle, it looked like it was struck by lightening, yet the leaves refused to die.
After walking for 20 minutes (by this time a highway appeared), a black angel saved me and pointed my feet in the direction from which I came, telling me to walk another 20 minutes (I walked past the store the first time, completely missed the HUGE RED awning). Breakfast ingredients were in my hand in no time and I was back at the house safe and warm. After a hearty breakfast of eggs, home fries and chicken sausages, we troupe out the door.
First stop: Furniture shopping for princess Anna’s room. After we get off the first bus, lessons in how far ahead to walk in front of Mommy, when to stop walking, the meaning of “active driveways” and patience, patience, patience were given out. As we wait the girls give me a-
DANCE BREAK!
ROCK STAR POSE!
And we are off to the bus that takes us to Providence Place Mall to buy a birthday present for a children’s party we are attending later in the day.
Bed, Bath and Beyond is always a magical place for me, but the most fun a young one can have is inside of a shopping cart. This simple act always reminds me of growing up with little my sister Shawn, doing everything together. The girls pile up in the cart and I try to spice things up:
(Using a nasal voice)
“Please keep your hands and arms inside of the shopping cart at all times. Please do not stand while the shopping cart is in motion. Thank you.”
Shopping trip success is scored, but revolving door antics lead to my voice tightening, sharpening, shortening, running out of patience, patience, patience. We rest in silence while waiting for the bus.
Birthday barbeque food does what it always does; the chicken soothes, the salad satiates, the water brings clarity, and the watermelon recharges the battery for the next 30 minute walk to the bus that takes us to the bus to transfer to the bus that takes us home (no exaggeration of buses).
After our day out, Barbara reads the girls a bedtime story- childhood memories again. Barbara and I get to finally talk as friends, sisters, poets and human beings-faults and all. She laughs at all my jokes:
Me: So, this is Rhode Island. Isn’t this one of the 13 colonies?
B: Yeah, Plymouth Rock is near here.
Me: I didn’t land on Plymouth Rock, Barbara
We rise early the next morning after the girls had to finally be separated in order for anyone to get rest through the night. After a second look at the bus schedule, the transportation route called for either more walking at 7a.m. or a cab.
I want you to guess which option I chose at THIS point in the story girls and boys.
By now the girls are fighting over a tissue paper flower that princess Anna made for Mommy. Our (ahem) transportation arrives and Princess Anna reads a book all about “Crabs.” She is such a good reader for 6! No sight reading for her, no sir, she is sounding out signs in windows everywhere we go. Literacy-YES!
Miss Patty girl is a trip, having side conversations on her imaginary phone with imaginary friends-dead serious about it too! Sometimes she has to conduct part of her conversation in the next room. I mean WOW!
The hour we spend waiting for the bus to come is filled with the girls chasing each other around Mommy; by now they have totally kissed and made up, as they feel the departure time is upon them. They hug each other to death, professing their love for one another. We all embrace goodbye, goodbye, and I leave the State by the Sea on the bus with Princess Anna who by now is crying, but still trying to be strong, so the last image Mommy sees is a happy Anna. We take off waving to our loved ones, and Anna requests I give her Mommy’s phone number. She writes it onto a piece of paper she has folded in half, creating a two-dimensional piece of artwork, containing a love letter feverishly written to Mommy- tears still glistening in her eyes. We talk, girl stuff, you know, discussing the cognitive behavior of toddlers and ex-toddlers turned “big girls,” then I read a book called “Bad Kitty vs. Uncle Murray,” which explores the differences between the domesticated feline world and the humans who care for them within their own world.
After that we are off to sleep city.
Back to Brooklyn-I drop Anna back to her father’s arms that have been awaiting her return. As I walk away feeling an awesome sense of accomplishment Anna runs behind me with her last request: “Remember to mail the letter to Mommy, ok?”
Guess what I am doing first thing Monday morning…
ROCK STAR POSE!
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