For beautiful hair,
let a child run their fingers through it once a day.
For poise,
walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.
People, more than things,
have to be
restored,
renewed,
revived,
reclaimed, and redeemed.
Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. — Audrey Hepburn
“The purpose of life is to live it,
to taste experience to the utmost,
to reach out eagerly and without fear..." - E.Roosevelt
Sunday morning, Timmy and I went to the beach to meet up with his brother and his family.
Maryn came running up to us when we got there and was so excited to
tell us, "It's warm" (the water).
She ran into the little puddles forming at the foot
of the ocean and would splash her hands into it proclaiming, "it's warm!"
I asked her what lives in the oceans and she
responded "fish”- ever so proudly. I asked her what else (not expecting her to be able
to answer) and she surprised me with "Sharks".
I told her that Uncle Nick is afraid of sharks and she giggled her beautiful Maryn giggle.
Poor kid, I didn’t have the heart to tell her
I wasn’t joking…
We worked on “simming”—and she’s a pretty good “simmer”… well, she’s GREAT at the splashing part..
She loves to do ballet in the water with me.
We twirled... and twirled.... and twirled some more. 
She finally sat down with her Uncle Timmy to share her gold fish and to point out every
polka dot, or should I say POKE A DOT, on my bikini.
It's the little things {little people} that make me happy. You know the feeling? That deep down, mama’s cooking, homespun feeling. Well, maybe not MY mother’s cooking.. but Paula Dean’s cookin’ (sorry mum, can't have it all!)
After such an innocent day at the beach with lil Miss. Maryn (baby Mac), I thought about how precious she is and how grateful I am to know her family. I really do, at times, feel as though she were my own niece. If I can only be so blessed to have Jordan or Jarrett provide us with a little cherub like Baby Mac. I have the sense of home with the Cummings family, which, to me is the greatest gift.
I wanted to do something special for them . Something a little more special than buying a fisher price toy or princess dolly. I think toys that foster creativity is vital for a child's growth and development... just look at me, Jordan and Jarrett, for example...
(done laughing?)....
So I dragged Timmy to consignment children stores. Poor guy... He was a good sport, though, because he loves his niece and god baby. Plus, like I tell him, I am just giving him practice in patience and at being a obeying, purse holding husband.
... His future wife(s)/girlfriend(s) will thank me, I am sure. After lots of searching, we (I) found an old train table, like one that my brother Jordy had when he was little.
And with that, I began to do my happy dance.
Perfect! It could work... if I WORK at it a bit.
 |
| Mod Podge- reminds me of college, oddly enough. |
My idea was to make a decoupage table full of pictures of her and her FABULOUS family and turn the "train track" into a chalk board. A little chalk board paint, sand paper (LOTS), a thousand pictures of the Cummings family, and some pretty pale pink paint, I KNEW this would be amazing.
I took over their garage. It became my "studio"; armed with glasses of wine, and a steady hand to continually fill my glass (Uncle Timmy) paint brushes and Avon skin-so-soft lotion, I was ready to be Miss. Martha Stewart.
 |
Her itty bitty chair
-Previously an old wooden chair |
 |
| Re-purposing and old train table |
 |
| the drawers |
On my ride home from the beach, I was thinking about how I got here. And by here, I do not JUST mean Charleston, SC (vacationland). But here... this place where so much is lost and so much is gained. So much has changed in the past few months (good and bad) and it would be neglectful if I didn't admit that I, like the table, needed a little re-purposing as well.
When we graduated from CBA, I remember Dr. Suess' OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO! was read at the Baccalaureate Mass. Lame!-- at 17 I thought. But now, older and so much wiser (haha)I identified with how true those simple words were...
Thus came this idea...
"Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum ( I changed to Benham for a creative touch) or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai (changed to Maryn.. again, to be cute) Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!"
Like any great children's book, the moral of the tale (as my mother would say) is.....?
I, perhaps more than the train table, needed to be restored, renewed, reclaimed. The creativity to re-live is what life is about. When you are around such an angelic, innocent child as Maryn, you see that the world is at the tip of her tiny toes.
The doc warned us in his playful poetry: "I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you."
We get nicked and scuffed and stressed like the wooden chair ( $20 at Next to New in Mt. Pleasant!), or need to reinvent, sand out the kinks, move on. We get caught up in our suggested purpose (train table for boys), that we lose sight of what we can become (creation station/indoor sidewalk table- something perhaps not better, but different. It's like the Phoenix. We rise again from the ashes, anew..
After a ridiculous amount of hours, layers and brain-cell losing scents, I cannot wait until Maryn gets to see her arts and craft table. Above all, I really hope she never loses her sense of wonder, her joy in simple things, her little giggle, her vitality and sweet, sweet nature. It's funny how it's now the children we learn from, and not the other way about.
.
 |
| The final product |
... see, then, cousin, you are very young...... (hahahaha).
