Will a Purple One Be Alright?

"Will a purple one be all right?" she asked with the sweetest of smiles. That was a time when she still loved me purely and her innocence was unscathed by the corruptness of the world.

I still remember those words from twenty-seven years ago. At only three-years-old she was the most loving child. Kind. Sweet. Caring.

That day, I was stuck in bed with an episode of inflammation in my back. She wanted to play. I would have loved to play but it was too much misery to move. I tried to explain that Mommy didn't feel good.

Suddenly she was Dr. Holli. She climbed up on the bed with a hair brush in hand. "Where does it hurt Momma?"

"My back baby." Before I could say anything else she was gently brushing my back with the hair brush.

"Does that feel good?" she sweetly asked. It actually did, but the underlying pain was still there. "I'm going to operate on you now, okay. You're going to be alright. Don't cry. It won't hurt"

I loved this child more than life itself. She fussed around moving the brush several different ways and poked me with the handle at least once.

"Momma, your back is broke. You need a new one."

"Yes, baby, I think you're right. I do need a new one." And then what she said next warmed my heart.

"Will a purple one be alright?"

"Yes, baby. I would love a new purple back." She finished the 'surgery' and let me know my new purple back was all in place. Now she just wanted me to rest and let it stick on me good. Then with no more ado, she curled up next to me and went fast to sleep. I enjoyed a nap too, with the warmth of her little body against the soreness of my back.

These are the happy times that pass so quickly we almost don't remember they were ever there. In my various boxes of notes and mementos, I found a scribbled note about things my child had done when she was small that I wanted to write up some day. The purple back was one of them.

Another memorable event demonstrating what a loving child she was occurred just a few of years later when she was about six or seven. Her father and I had separated and were advancing towards divorce. It was Valentine's Day. Definitely not the best day for me but it had never been an embraced holiday at our house. So, it shouldn't have bothered me much, and yet it did.

Holli seemed full of excitement. She was also secretive. She took her backpack quickly to the bedroom. I went in my office so I could sit and cry, something I never wanted her to see. I was roused from my sorrows when I heard a knock and a sweet little voice call to me, "Come see, Momma. It's all ready."

As I came out, she took me by the hand. She showed me how she had pushed up a chair and washed the few dishes in the sink and put them to dry. Then she said she needed to show me her big surprise. I had to wonder just what exactly had she been up to and how long had I sat in my pity party.

Leading the way she opened my bedroom door. "Tada! Ohhh, oh no!" And then she began to cry. Not quite sure what I was supposed to be looking at, I realized the cat was in my room and he was licking at something wet on my pillow that had spilled from what looked like a vase full of flowers.

"Sable ruined everything, Momma! Get out Sable!" She chased him away. With a tear stained face, she picked up the vase and put the flowers back in. She wiped the water from her hand made card. It was all for Valentines' Day.

This child! This child! My heart squeezed. "Oh, it's beautiful, sweetie! Where did you get such lovely flowers?" And I did truly wonder. They were roses. A little less than fresh but beautiful just the same.

"I got them from the trash! Ms. Lisa got new flowers today and threw these away. But they were still pretty so I got the best ones from the trash so you could have Valentines' Day flowers. Do you like them?"

All I could do was hug her and squeeze her. The tears in my eyes blinded me so that I could barely read the words on her card - Happy Valentines Day Mom Love Holli. The lump in my throat made it damn near impossible to speak. "It's perfect, baby. Thank you! This is the best Valentines' Day I've ever had." And I have to say, even today at 62 years old, it is still the truth.

My child has no idea all the ways she has touched my soul and blessed me with her presence. So many memories that only Mothers hang onto. The girls nights where we had junk food and movies every Friday and Saturday because her dad was always fishing or hunting. The cookies we made. The shopping we did. And reading together.

Unbelievably, I was able to read Dracula to her at only 7 years old and she was able to follow along between the two persons writing letters. I confess, I did paraphrase some parts that would have been a bit too adult for her. But she hung on every word. We read together often until she became old enough to read on her own. I was glad that my love of books and reading passed on to her. She devoured the Harry Potter series. We even went on release day to get her one of the books.

So many memories. Precious memories. Wrapped in a love that will never die because no matter who she goes on in life to be, she will always be the beautiful little, loving and caring child that asked me "Will a purple one be alright" and the one person in this world that gave me the best Valentines Day ever.