There is my little guy...in the high chair at Nana's house. (sigh)
As I was helping my mother load all of her pictures from her camera to her computer the other day...I came across this one. It was a painful shock and a great surprise all at the same time. It seems that all of the pictures that I have of Mark are getting a little less difficult to look at...I am getting used to them and I can anticipate what my response will be as I prepare to look at them. However, when I am confronted with a picture of him that I have never seen...like the one above...well...let me just tell you that it is like a tidal wave of emotion.
I'll just get to the point of this post. A memory that I may have mentioned at an earlier time, but maybe in not so much detail. Here goes...
Cheese. Yes, cheese. I want it to be recorded that my Marco Polo LOVED him some cheese. But, not just ANY cheese. No. Not the distinguished cheddar or swiss. Not him. He only liked the best...processed American cheese slices. Ha!
Yes, the ones that come individually wrapped in plastic. (yuk). I'm not sure what made me begin to buy them in the first place because we just don't eat them in this house and nobody was eating them before Mark decided that he liked them. Who knows. Regardless of HOW he discovered that he liked them...he liked them. A lot of them. In fact, he could eat about 4 of them...one right after another. Before you think badly of me, let me just tell you that I only bought the best. Kraft! : )
All joking aside, Mark loved those cheese slices. I will never forget how he would shove them into his mouth just as quickly as we would give them to him. We thought that it was pretty funny that he would have the entire slice in his mouth...cheeks so fat...trying to chew...and would already be holding out his hand for another one while saying "cheese". Although, really, it sounded more like "chuelja;sljf ealj fe"... if you get my drift.
So, even though I don't have a picture of him eating the cheese...you can bet that in the picture above...he had already finished a few slices or he was about to. Most likely the latter, since he has no traces of it stuck to his face yet.
I can almost picture him standing in front of the fridge right now...waiting for the cheese. (sigh).
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What a priceless memory and a precious picture... there is so much joy in that goofy expression. Thank you for continuing to share your memories.
ReplyDeleteReminders like these can make us feel like the waters that we are already treading, just got deeper. It's hard, but I try to look at them as little life rafts to hold on to for a bit, each one coming when God knows I need it, reminding me to keep my perspective eternal and that my hope is in Heaven. I loved that gross wrapper cheese when I was a kid, too!
ReplyDeleteIf I saw a picture today of Anna that I hadn't yet seen, it would do the same thing to me. We only have what we have and when something new shows up it's like we got another little piece of our child back that we didn't have before. It's an extremely emotional experience.
ReplyDeleteThinking of you today.
Love,
Lynnette