He Stole My Heart With This One

Reeves has recently been asking a lot of questions about dying (or "diving" as he calls it). I'm not sure what has prompted this, but we've been having some rather deep conversations about it. Maybe I'm too black and white, or maybe I have a bit too much of my father in me, but I have talked to Reeves about this subject rather truthfully. I haven't sugar coated anything about it. There's no chance he'll ever think that someone who has died is just "sleeping". He knows that people who die go to heaven to live with God and Jesus. He seems OK with this. He also wants to know why people die, specifically, "Why did Mama die?" Mama is Judy's mother who died in 2000 at the age of 99. That was an easy one. I told him that sometimes when people get really old, their bodies "just poop out". (This, ironically, is also the term we use when any flashlight or battery operated toy doesn't work also.) So far I haven't had to go any further into it. I haven't had to address why some young people die, or why some people die in tragic accidents.

The other night on the way home from the country, he was very concerned with the fact that Mama had died. He eventually worked himself up into getting upset that all his grandparents were going to die, and Mommy and Daddy were going to die, and he'll be left here all alone with nobody to play with. I explained to him that that wasn't going to happen for a long time. He would be all grown up with a family of his own by then. (Let's pray for good health.) This seemed to pacify him, along with the knowledge that all those people whom we love who die are up in heaven and God and Jesus are taking care of them. Luckily, we arrived home shortly after that, and his attention was directed elsewhere.

Yesterday, on the way home from the CML, he asked me about the sick sea turtles they were taking care of on the shrimp boat. Apparently there was a little girl there who convinced them this needed to be done. After explaining to him all about veteranarians and how they are doctors who take care of sick animals, he asked me if animals ever die. I told him that yes, sometimes even vets can't save an animals life. This of course prompted him to mention Mama again. But then he also talked about Poppa, my grandfather who died last year. I honestly didn't think he'd even remember him. Then, just as we were approaching our house, he said, "Momma, I'm going to be like Superman and fly up to heaven and save Mama and Poppa and Gammy's friend that died." He was with Mom when she found out about Henrietta but had never mentioned it until just then. I am consistently amazed at just how big these little people's hearts can be.