Dear Lucy,
Last week, when your brother Jack and I were chatting on Zoom, you came running into the room. Grinning from ear to ear, you said: “Bubbie, can I show you what I got my mommy for Hanukkah?” You then ran off and came back with a lovely pair of purple knee socks featuring sloths and donuts. “My mommy loves purple,” you added.
I’ve got to tell you. The contrast between your wonderful 9 year-old-brother and 6-year-old you amuses me no end. Before you decided to introduce the purple socks, Jack took great joy in showing me all the Hanukkah gifts he had received, including a National Geographic book from Aunt Terry, an indoor soccer ball that spins by itself from Aunt Phyllis, and the piece de resistance, a hamster named Teddy Bear Horowitz, over whom you and Jack share custody.
You amaze me with your spunk and spirit of fun. “Don’t tell Grandpa Dennis,” you giggled. That was during our Hanukkah chat on FaceTime last night, after Jack said: “We want to introduce you to the newest member of our family.” You knew your maternal grandpa had not seen your hamster before.
It delights me to see how very proud you are of your brother. You insisted on showing me all the hamster playground equipment Jack had built out of popsicle sticks for Teddy’s cage. (As it turns out, letting a hamster keep rolling along the floor inside a ball is mean to the hamster, so you and Jack swiftly nixed that idea.)
Unlike your brother, you are wary of animals. When I asked you if you had held Teddy, you replied: “No, but I petted him.” You look lovingly at the hamster, telling Jack: “Look at his cute little legs.”
It makes me unbelievingly happy that you and Jack have adjusted so beautifully to your move from the San Francisco Bay Area to Philadelphia’s Main Line. It’s been an insane year, what with your having a hybrid school schedule that you enjoyed, only to have the plug pulled on that because of Covid-19.
I couldn’t resist smiling as I saw your daddy’s video of you and Jack opening your mouths really wide to catch the snow on your tongue earlier this week when there were just a few flurries falling. Before moving to Philly, the only time you’ve seen snow was visiting me in Boston, and that was snow that had already fallen and begun to turn slushy.
You are lucky to have such kind and loving parents with the means to anticipate your every need. Days ahead of yesterday’s big snow storm, you and Jack were given sleds. Fortunately, you have a kid friendly slope down the street from your home. I could only share in that adventure by witnessing the hot cocoa mustaches you and Jack were sporting when we did our FaceTime call last night.
You are very much your own person, Lucy, and not inclined to do anything just for the sake of pleasing a parent or grandparent. Only if you’re amenable, I hope that you and I can make a no bake recipe of rice crispy treats with chocolate and pretzels that I got from the New York Times Food Section.
Hope to see you as soon as I can get my Covid-19 vaccine, which might happen in March.
Love, Bubbie Bonnie
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