While Bobby's been communicating with me since the day he was born, he has really started to verbalize his thoughts and needs over the past few weeks.
Something drops and he says, 'uh oh.' He likes something and claps his hands (which simultaneously means 'yeah!' and you better do that again.) He clinks his cup to say 'cheers!' He sticks out his tongue and makes an angry face for comedy. He whines and says 'nom nom' when he's hungry and says 'ahhh' when he wants my water. And his wave is now accompanied by a little greeting.
The greeting started as 'haaaa' but with two new toy phones we received as Christmas gifts, and all the iPhones that circulate around him on a daily basis, he has started to say 'hawo'
The enthusiastic salutation came at a perfect time too. Last week we ventured out West to meet up with my side of the family to celebrate the holidays and my Mom and Dad's 40th wedding anniversary.
Although he didn't say it specifically, I'm thinking his ever present wave in Park City, meant something like hello mountains, hello snow.
Hello Mom and Dad. Nana and Opa.
Hello aunts, uncles and cousins.
Hello skiers. And snowboarders.
Hello apres ski. And apres dinner.
Hello vacation. Hello fun.
While on holiday we also celebrated my parents saying 'hello' to a lifetime spent together. 40 years ago on January 3, in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, my Mom and Dad said hello to marriage. They said hello to shared hopes and a shared faith. They said hello to a shared living space, car, bills, and responsibilities. They said hello to kids, school uniforms, ballet recitals, ball games, and ski lessons. They said hello to dad jokes and punch lines centered on mom. They said hello to kids first and them second. They said hello to significant others, grand kids, and more chairs around the family dinner table. They said hello to Nana and Opa's day care and extending the sleeping arrangements in a rental house to the laundry room. They said hello to love and the potential it created.
As I iced my Grandma's New Years Pretzel on the 2nd, I wondered if 40 years ago they envisioned the extent of their hello; how many people would have been touched by it and how many memories it would have created. I wondered if they imagined getting to this milestone, slicing off a piece of the massive pretzel to celebrate, a photographer documenting the smiling leaves on their ever growing family tree, and a vacation house filled with as much noise as love.
My parents have obviously taught us well. We are really good at hellos, despite the awkwardness of our hugs at times. What we're not good at is goodbyes. 'Bye bye' is not part of Bobby's vocabulary yet. Hey, we just got Mary to say night night. One step at a time.
Goodbyes always come with some emotion in my family. One teary eye affects the next. Text messages with a ;miss you already' follow. And it's usually my little extension of the family that has the saddest parting as we live so far away from the roots of it. So instead we focus on the next hello. The next celebratory come together on the calendar.
Until then, as Bobby says hello to our routine again, I'll say thank you to my parents for saying hello to each other. And in it, saying hello to my life and all the love and joy in it. Including yet another wonderful vacation.
Lo.
