Simply Complex

That's Ev. She is simultaneously the most simple and complex person I know.
She loves all of the little, simple delights in a day. I have seen her admiring the path of a sunbeam, a single tiger stripe on the cat's back, she will stand enraptured watching a leaf twirl and dance in the wind. She loves a good story, a good song and a good pancake. Every single thing that happens to her is worthy of a smile and a comment or two (or twenty). A good night time snuggle in her bed is just about the only way she likes to close out the day. She doesn't require clothes from a trendy children's line- just a yellow dress. She doesn't ask for any expensive and extraordinary gifts- just a pack of cards so she can leave notes for Les and I around the house. She doesn't need music from whatever person is topping the charts- just a mix tape(cd) that her Papa makes. She doesn't ask for huge extravagant days with Mama- just an hour or two of Rabbit Store or Salon works for her.

But then you start to see her interior life and you realize, hey this kid is deep and complex and yes, a bit scary. She thinks deep thoughts for one so young. She never really ever brings up her time in China, I usually have to go fishing for it. But what she does say? Well, that can leave me heart heavy and gasping. She can put together 5 words that suck all of the air out of the room and leave me wondering how we are ever going to face it all and then she will skip or hop off with a laugh. Every once in a while she will say something about a family member or do an imitation of someone and you realize that she sees everything. Every detail, every foible, every kindness. She doesn't miss a trick and that's hard to keep up with. Every half-hearted "umm humm" will be taken as serious as a blood oath to her.  Every non-comittal "maybe..." is counted as acquiescence. Plans must be made days, weeks and sometimes years in advance and you must tread lightly in the conversation because she will remember every word and hold you to it.

Then you have her, well, her upkeep. The daily fiber, the special soaps for her hands, the special lotions, the vaseline and hand sock routine at night, the humidifier in her room, her need to replace her toothbrush every 17 days, the "look at me" that I hear about every 15.2 seconds every day, all day.  The need for a particularly scheduled shower and bath routine so we can avoid soap irritation in delicate places. The way that she can take a simple declarative statement and turn it into a frenzy of clarifications and a veritable conversational tsunami and make you wonder why you ever bothered to mention that spring was coming. Her inability to ever just accept that we will be doing an activity or going on a trip and just being happy and excited about it, how she must question and worry and fret and doubt- which is why her life these days is chock full of surprises. She worries about every detail of every possibility of everything. And she can not be put off, or half answered- you must take the time to work it all out with her. All of it.

But she is a sprite, a magical thing. She conceals her brand of magic under the chatter and worry. She is wise and wonderful. She is bright and shining. She is a live wire. She crackles with life and energy. She is sweet and loving- if you can get close, it's the best thing that will ever happen to you. And she is a healer. She draws the hurt and pain out of people and they feel it and they look startled and have no idea what is happening. She is like a fast, lit up tilt-a-whirl; she spins and spins and leaves you feeling giddy and unsteady but, oh so ready for more.

She is my girl, my daughter, my life, my heart, my magic, my wild thing, my sprite, my fairy. She is the good in every day and the blue in my sky. She is Evelyn Elaine Fu Mei and I am lucky to be here with her in this life.