Hommel Mangas
When I was writing my Daily Journal column on heaven a few weeks ago, I had my 15-month old grandson John assisting. While I was giving him his morning snack at the kitchen table, I stopped to listen to an incoming text that my youngest daughter, Phoebe, had sent. She wrote:
“My friend sent me a work-in-progress and I worked on it yesterday. Mom privilege means you get to hear stuff while it’s in progress.”
The audio recording was labeled “Quad project m4.”
I cheerfully told John, “We’re going to listen to Auntie Phoebe sing.” He instantly smiled with a mouth full of raspberry, put his hands in the air and moved side to side — his chair dance move.
I pressed the play arrow and listened to Phoebe melodically sing the moving words:
“Sometimes I forget what it’s like to be young
So full of wonder at how things are done
The passing moments turn into memories …
But if I’m looking back, that’s all I’ll ever see.
So I … I … I … I’ll take my time,
To try find the little things in life.”
I won’t share the rest of the poetic, impactful words but I immediately began to bawl. Big sobbing tears. John, who is used to my silly dramatic play antics just laughed.
About eight hours later, when Chloe came to pick up John, I told her I was bawling in front of John but he just laughed, so I don’t think he was terribly traumatized. I then re-played Chloe the song, which is when John instantly began to empathy cry.
Children are funny and soak everything up.
A few days ago, he was out in the yard. I was encouraging him as he plodded up a small hill against gravity and at the top he giggled as his little legs toddled him down the hill. John must’ve gone up and down that hill five times, when he laughed and let out a screeching, “kree-eee-ar.”
I had never heard him yell or make a pitch like this — ever. A few times he stooped down to listen, then screeched again. That’s when I heard a redtail hawk soaring overhead doing the same screech. John was responding to the hawks cry, almost like a steam whistle sound. It was like a church call-and-response — back and forth about eight times!
Like Phoebe singing Quad’s song lyrics: “… find the little things in life.”
Janet Hommel Mangas grew up on the east side of Greenwood. The Center Grove area resident and her husband are the parents of three daughters. Send comments to [email protected].
