Batteries and sappy movies

The great tragedy of the Cisneros household last night was that Rebecca's flashlight (a gift from Grammy) ran out of battery power. It had just enough juice to actually come on when Rebecca pushed the button but quickly dimmed to nothing. Rebecca thought it was broken and was dissolved into tears. We tried to explain to her that it needed batteries. Well, Rebecca knows where the batteries for our various cameras are, so she ran to the drawer and pulled out some AAs and the rechargable battery for the camera. Alas, this flashlight takes D batteries, and we had none in the house. My friends, it was simply a crushing blow. We told her we would buy some batteries at the store tomorrow (today), but she was brokenhearted that her "fash-ite" was "boken." I thought the storm had passed and that she had been sufficiently distracted by something else. Not so fast - this girl's memory is razor sharp. She came in the kitchen with a mournful face, looked up at me, and said, "Gammy is sad." I queried as to why Grammy was sad, and she explained to me, quite piteously, that Gammy was sad because the "fash-ite" was "boken." The Lord provides batteries like manna for little girls so saddened, because Ramy located some D batteries and the "fash-ite" was "shining." Rebecca was so happy that she had to fall asleep with flashlight in hand! This afternoon, Rebecca told me that Grammy was happy the flashlight was fixed!

Tonight, we were watching Roman Holiday on television. Rebecca watched with great interest, especially in the kissing scenes. She commented, "Awww, they kissing!" When Audrey Hepburn's character was leaving Gregory Peck, Rebecca said "ohhhh, he sad. Poor man, he sad!" She looked so crestfallen when Audrey Hepburn didn't come back!

As I'm typing this, however, Rebecca has a tambourine and is is signing quite loudly. Clearly, all is well in her world!


Please say a few prayers for some people near and dear to us:
Today is my father-in-law's birthday. Ramy's dad is, sadly, not very aware of his surroundings and likely won't see another birthday. It's a difficult time for everyone who knows and loves him. It's a terrible thing to lose a parent and terrible to recognize that the father Ramy has admired and adored for so many years has actually not been with him for several years now, even though he's still here physically. I regret that I didn't have the opportunity to really get to know my father-in-law, as I believe that many of the qualities that make Ramy the incredible man he is are traits he emulated of his dad's. I'm sad that Rebecca got cheated out of both grandfathers and that she will only know their influence through the examples and stories we share with her. It's going to be a hard time coming as Ramy has to say goodbye to his father, so please think of him, Lydia, and the rest of his family.

Aunt Margaret is recuperating after her CABG and pacemaker surgeries. It's a slow recovery, but we hope she'll be feeling good again soon. Rebecca has been quite concerned about "An' Mah-get in da hospital. She not feel good!"

Lisa Grubbs is having her ostomy reversal surgery tomorrow. Please pray all goes well with her surgery and that all her "plumbing" remembers its important function! Our Mrs. Joy will be spending some time with Lisa and her boys as she recovers, so we pray she has a safe trip.

Aunt Mimi (Marilyn Craig) took a bad fall and may have done damage to her back. She's having an MRI to see if there is a fracture that may necessitate more surgery. Please pray she doesn't have anything more serious than bruising and swelling and doesn't need anything more than rest and maybe some good drugs!

Julie and Adelaide ("Miss Ju-eee and Ad-dee") are settled in their new apartment in New York, and Julie will be starting her internship in just three weeks. Derek still hasn't landed a job and, although he's out there with them right now, will be returning to California to wait it out, unless he gets a job offer this week. It's a really stressful time, so please send some prayers for a good IT job for Derek, a fabulous childcare situation to fall out of the sky, and for Julie to have an easy transition to being a full time working mama. (Like me, Julie's been used to having a lot more time with Addie than being away from her, and she's gotta transition in a new environment without much support!).