A Baby No More

One, two, three, four, five, one by one the years go flying by.  They say time flies when your having fun.  I must of been having fun.  To be honest with you, I was having fun.  The years when all my children were small and still at home were the happiest time of my life.  One by one they were all growing up and heading off to school, it was now Denise's turn.  She was no longer a baby.  As a matter of fact she was no longer the baby of the family either as a couple of months before her 5th birthday a new baby brother entered the world. 

Denise loved to talk, so much so her Pap Pap nicknamed her Gabby.  No longer does she stutter but has developed a speech impediment where she substitutes a W for an R.   A conversation with her would go something like this, "I am going up to my woom to wead a book."  or  "A squiwwel cwossed the stweet and almost got hit by a caw."  To this day we still call a squirrel a squiwwel and when she was still here she would laugh along with us. 

 Off she goes to school and the speech problem will become a thing of the past due to a couple years of speech class. Denise was an excellent student and was very well behaved in school.  She always displayed enthusiasm and interest in all of her subjects and had a smile for everyone around her.   I don't remember ever getting any kind of negative report about her.  In fact, all reports were always positive and complimentary and her grades were always A's. Her love of school followed her home and she spent many hours playing school and imitating her favorite teacher.

I think mother's cry on the first day a child starts school because they know it's the first step toward their chick leaving the nest.

Denise made friends easy but spent most of her time with a few neighbor girls and her sister and brothers.  She was a typical little girl playing with dolls, watching cartoons, playing with the dog and doing other things little girls do.  She was a healthy child with a pleasant deposition and could entertain herself if need be.  Don't get me wrong she also knew how to get into a squabble with her siblings or her friends, but none of it was ever anything serious. 

Her enthusiastic personality and her infectious smile made such a impression that a teacher and an old school mate which hadn't seen her in years saw her obituary and took the time to pay their condolences. (to be continued)