Perfect Day!

The pool was filled with floating devices of all shapes and sizes. There was even a floating shamu.

"Do you know my friend Vanessa? She's eight years old, but she's moving to Canada." Tattiana tilted her head as she tried to see through her swimming goggles.
"Where does your friend live?" I asked, "next door?"
"No, she used to live next door, now she doesn't." She swam the width of the pool, "Vanessa comes over all the time. I wonder why she's not here right now?" She dipped her head into the water.

As I am Aunt to 15 nieces and nephews, I hold no bias. Although, Tattiana is the coolest six year old ever! Besides the fact that she could have been modeled from a pixar film, she was -in one word- absolutely delectable. She's not whiny, clingy, bratty. On the contrary, gregarious, brave, friendly and independent. I haven't seen her, since she was one years old. Here she was five years later,
jumping into the pool.

"Let's race to the other end of the pool?" I tricked her into practicing her into swimming.
"Alright!" She smiled.
"Ready, set, go!" I gave her a head start. I let her beat me couple times.

Toni, their 3 year old, with no shirt and pot belly strolled past us. "Hi Toni!" I waved excitedly as he had just woken from his nap. He smiled and waved and smiled again. "Hi Toni! Hi Toni! Hi Toni!" Tattiana got out of the pool. He waved and showed us all of his teeth. Toni was another morsel treasure. "Hi Vanessa!" Tattiana greeted her friend. Vanessa was a large plump girl with a head of curly dark hair. An important issue had developed. Apparently without adult supervision, Vanessa took it upon herself to swim in their pool. To add fuel to fire, she dared Tattiana to jump in the water first.

"Vanessa you did a very, very bad thing." Olga in all seriousness looked Vanessa in the eye, "Do you know what you did? I think you do?" Vanessa nodded silently. Tattiana whispered evidence in her mom's ear. "Vanessa I think you know what you did?" Olga was very strict in her candor, "What you did was very, very bad. Very bad." She gave Vanessa the Russian stare down that gave my bones a chill. She was quite for a moment which was meant to give Vanessa some time to think about her actions. Than she continued in fairness and without patronism, "Do you promise not to do that again?" She was stern, but very disciplinary. Vanessa nodded. "Alright, you can play now." Olga had said her peace. both girls jumped into the water.

Steve, the kid's dad, is Shane's childhood friend since they were 2. He was a legend in Shane's eyes. Steve was the no guts, no glory extreme sports master from snowboarding to mountain biking. As they rode through trees, Steve pulled flawless back flips and continued on as usual. He met Olga as he studied abroad in Russia. They later married and are now parents of two stunning children. When I first met Olga, her English was very limited. Today, she was one credit away from a bachelors degree. Amazing!

Shellie's Proverb: Catch a dream and set it free.
Kyle and Mom joined us for the barbecue. The boys laughed as they caught up with their childhood. We started the barbecue as the yard filled with neighborhood children. It was refreshing to know that kids in the Upstate area were not coddled and unspoiled. They weren't treated like a Faberge egg. Here, they were filthy, scabbed, but they laughed and played with the other children in the neighborhood. They weren't plopped in front of a television playing video games, it was exactly as how I remember my childhood. I was a bit nostalgic, but the Leggirious gave us hope. I'm not sure as to what fate will thrust in our direction, but my wish is that Shane and I could raise children like the old days, free and strong. Just like the Leggerios did with theirs.

Lesson: Grasshopper must open mind so as to not lose hope.