Sunday, January 9, 2011

A Noble Heart

I wish I had a picture or better yet a video to show you what I am writing about today. Since I have neither, I am left trying to capture a sweet moment with words alone. I promise to keep it under 1000 :) and hope I can still capture it in my own mind at least as vividly as a photograph could.

Ann Marie was having a hard morning. You have to understand that she is ... dramatic. She can make herself cry at the drop of a hat and uses that ability to get what she wants. I actually know she is really upset when she is trying not to cry but failing. So in any case, she was pouting and crying on our way to church. And then she was pouting and crying as church started. I knew her issue wasn't anything too major, so I wasn't worried about her. I just was giving her extra love and trying to keep her sisters from bothering her.

This year our church time starts at Noble's nap time. He is one tired boy at church. So he is often all over the place and hard to keep in the pew. Such was the case today. At least until he saw Annie with her tears. He struggled free of everyone else's grasp and stood up on the pew next to her facing the row behind us. Then he swung one leg over her lap and sat down. He wrapped his little arms tight around her neck and laid his head down on her shoulder.

She wrapped her arms around him and rocked him as she cried. He laid on her like that for quite some time - far longer than I expected or was normal. I don't think anyone could have comforted her better at that moment. He did this two or three times during the beginning of our church meeting until Dad took him out to the foyer to get him to sleep. It just touched my heart to see it.

There is a bit of magic in the touch of this toddler. I am not sure how to describe it. Losing Camille has frozen her at that age in all our hearts and minds. Having Noble here with us as this toddler doesn't replace her in anyway but he is like a surrogate carrier of the loves we would have been able to get and give to her in some way. I am not sure that even makes sense but it just melted my heart to see him loving on Annie today and in church and knowing that that toddler love that she has missed out on has in  some small measure been restored by the sweet and tender heart of her her brother.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful, caring little boy.

Love,

Jane

Karen UK said...

That brought a tear to my eye. x

Dean and Sheri said...

It touched my heart to read it. No video or photo needed. Your words created the picture very well. Thank you for sharing.

Denise said...

What a sweet tender moment that she needed. What a tender loving boy you have. Thanks for sharing.

Judy said...

Perfect -- no video needed!! What a sweet little guy!! I actually got teary eyed reading it, I love those moments in motherhood when you can see how much your children love & care about each other!!

All American Family said...

ohhh...no photo needed. You painted a very vivid picture with your words. You're right, there's no magic like toddler magic. What a sweet, sweet little boy Noble is.

Anonymous said...

what a sweet moment. its amazing how they tend to mirror the love they are given to others that they love. :) you've done a wonderful job stephanie

Laura Jansson said...

So incredibly sweet! :)

Danielle said...

Hi Stephanie,

I have a random question for you. A couple years ago, I was in the YW presidency in our ward. At that time I told the YW Pres. about an idea for New Beginnings. It was something to do with each girl having an individual flower and then the flowers coming together to create a beautiful bouquet.

That same YW President called me last week and asked me about that idea. It's been so long, I don't remember anything about it. The only thing I can come up with, was that I read it here. I remember how you have a flower for each of your girls. Does that idea sound familiar? Maybe I'm crazy... and way off.

By the way, I love your blog and have been following it for a couple years. I think your family is beautiful.

Thanks,
Danielle
dne29@hotmail.com

Rach said...

This made me a bit weepy. How beautiful and wonderful, and amazing that Camille continues to touch your family through all of you and your interactions with each other, and especially Noble. What a caring, sensitive little guy!

Anonymous said...

I stumbled across your blog from one of my favorite sewing blogs. . .your story is very inspiring! I'm amazed by your attitude! Sounds like your little boy got your heart!