Thursday, March 15, 2007

April, be quiet.

This morning as I was driving my daughter to take her mid-term exams I was singing along with a Leann Rimes song. Just to make it more fun, I decided singing the song with a really bad Spanish accent.

"HOW WOULD I LEEEEEVE WIT-OUT CHOOOU? IF CHOOOOU ONLY KNEW. BABY I WOULD DO ANYSING. DA Da lee dooo laa la loooooo (this is where I insert my own little twist on the song because I don't know all the words).

I was having a really good time. It's a new day, the sun is shining, I was happy, what could possibly bring me down?

I glanced over at my daughter and noticed she was sitting up straight in her seat staring out the front window. Normally, she would be staring at me either laughing or rolling her eyes while shaking her head in amazement at how incredibly talented I am. I know she wishes she was even half as cool as me, but with her father's genes I don't think it's possible.

"So, are you ready? Huh? Ya ready? Ya ready?" I questioned her.

"I'm trying to study in my head, but you're being so loud! Sheesh!" was her exasperated reply.

"Oh, sorry." I turned off the music and deflated. The rays of colorful light that had been emitting from my inner being dissipated into a fine mist and were sucked out through the ventilation system.

"Do you know how to say, 'I love you Mom' in Latin?" I sheepishly asked.

"Yes. Te Amo Mater." she said smiling at me.

When we pulled into the parking lot she didn't want to go into the building quite yet. I asked her if she wanted to pray. So I held her hand and we asked God to help her remember everything she had been studying and thanked Him for the opportunity to learn and some other things. Then she gave me a few hugs and a kiss and off she went.

As I sped away I turned up the music and then decided it wasn't as much fun to sing really loud in a Spanish accent without an audience, so I turned off the radio and had a nice little chat with myself about an old dilapidated house that sits downtown. I must say, it was quite a nice conversation.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Lurker coming out of the shadows...

That is a great story. Even better to throw in a little Latin too. But what's got my curiosity up is this.....while I have no idea where you actually live, a nagging sense that it's near my old neighborhood keeps hanging out in my brain. Add to it that your daughter takes Latin and has mid-terms this week, and I'm almost certainly imagining a little school meeting in a beautiful midwest setting, headed up by one of my favorite people on earth who just so happens to be from New York and possesses a fondness for bow ties. He was my mentor who introduced me to classical education, and he officiated at my wedding last May, in between baccalaureate and commencement ceremonies at his school. If I'm right, I think I'll be tickled to death to have found a place that "speaks of home". If I'm wrong, you can just chalk it up to my over-active imagination.

(And if I'm right, I didn't want to be so specific that I would blow your "cover", so to speak.)