What were they thinking? It’s gaudy, ugly, out of place. It’s… brilliant.
I see their point. Had this been just another small place to refuel, we would pass it by without much thought, only stopping if we needed to refill, but it’s gaudy red and white would attract the curious, particularly families.
I can imagine passing families being halted by children insisting on having the car refilled by the teapot. Curious eyes would be peeking inside to see what fairy tale characters might lurk within.
It’s far better to be noticed as gaudy than not to be noticed at all.
Has it really been a decade? I mean, really, where has the time gone?
I watched my daughter sleeping. It was her 10th birthday. How angelic she looked and how soon the moment would be broken by the excitement on her waking. All too short a time ago, I would cradle her in my arms as she would gurgle and smile up at me.
She was waking.
I kissed her on her cheek, “Happy birthday.”
She wrapped her arms around me, “Thanks, daddy.”
She scrambled out of bed, excited by the expected gift.
Ten years of happy memories bundled up in the joy of my life.
Kalea strode across the dais on her kindergarten graduation day. Tears of joy were in our eyes as we watched.
She was so little when we’d received the news. She had neuroblastoma. The doctors said she was in the low risk category and had a good chance of cure. Our hearts had skipped a beat. Cancer was cancer.
To look at her now, you’d never know. Her hospital friend’s odds were not so good. She was also five when she lost her battle.
Note: While this is a fictional story, Niahm is not. She was a brave little girl who suffered from neuroblastoma, a very common form of cancer in young children. Her parents had been raising awareness of the cancer. Despite her parents’ efforts to raise funds for the surgery they hoped would save her, she recently lost her battle. She was only five and someone I came to know through Twitter.