Tuesday, August 2, 2011 Happy Birthday, Heather...
Today is my baby girl's birthday! She's not 2 1/2 any more, nor is she 10, 20, or even 30. She's a big girl with babies of her own. But, in my heart and memory, she will always be my "baby girl!"
I want to tell you about the Story of The Grapes.
When Heather was just a baby, she found comfort in her thumb and her favorite blankie. Having a thumb-sucker was not a new experience for me. Her big sister, JerriAnne had found comfort in her thumb as well. We tried everything with JerriAnne, short of somehow hiding her thumb, and nothing worked. She even sucked off the tobasco sauce we put on her thumb and seemed to enjoy it.
Having had those experiences with JerriAnne, we decided not to go to such lengths with Heather. She would outgrow it.
By the time Heather was one year old, we noticed a phenomenon happening that I had not seen with JerriAnne. She lost interest in the contents of her bottle, but started sucking her thumb while rubbing the bottle's nipple between the fingers of her other hand and holding it close to her face. This had replaced her blankie. I figured this was a good time to get rid of her bottle, and I did. She didn't miss the bottle, but she missed the nipple.
By the time she was walking quite well, I found Heather standing in front of our coffee table, playing with the plastic grapes that I had in a bowl on the table. She had found a replacement for her bottle's nipple--a plastic grape! She would squeeze the little grapes and suck her thumb and stand there for a very long time.
After a while, I noticed that the grapes started to disappear off of the clusters and I would find loose grapes all over the house. Heather had discovered that they pulled off! Quite a resourceful little one, she was! Well, that went on for years. I had to keep buying new clusters of grapes every year to replace the now bare ones that Heather had stripped of their tempting fruit! Why, I even found a grape in the parking lot of the local supermarket, and I knew Heather had been there! It brought a smile to my lips.
She eventually grew out of both the grapes and her thumb and turned out to be one of my choicest daughters. What a treasure she is in my life and in the lives of her husband and her children. Now, every time I see a cluster of plastic grapes, I am reminded of a little girl standing next to the coffee table with her thumb in her mouth, squeezing her prize for the moment.
God has blessed me with wnderful memories and He blessed me with an awesome daughter on August 2, 1972. Happy Birthday, again, dear daughter. I love you!
4 comments:
The sad truth of that story is that I kept up that habit so long that I have memories of it!! Hahaha!!! Do you remember when you built the addition to your master bedroom and then moved your bed to the opposite wall, you found dozens of those stinkin grapes behind the headboard of your bed! I love you mom! I'm so grateful that my Father in Heaven sent me to such goodly parents. The comfort that thumb & those grapes brought me was eventually replaced by the comfort of my sweet mother :)
I totally remember my mom telling me this story when I was younger :) happy birthday heather!! Thanks for the blonde hair ;)
That was a sweet tribute! "Hedda Fedda", as I called her a lot, was such a fun little sister to tease! I am grateful for all of my sisters! Love you Heather and Mom!
Thank you, Heather for your comments. Yes, I do remember moving our big bed and finding all of those grapes. I love my memories, too. You and all of my children and grandchildren and my memories are my cmfort!
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