INNOCENCE

Brenna at Cocoa Beach

A series of short stories.....






Through My Eyes........

By: Jacqueline E. Hughes

I know, I keep saying it but, the mind truly is a wondrous thing! 

In my case, my thoughts can begin in Amsterdam touring the Van Gogh Museum and migrate to a golden loaf of zucchini bread made from scratch with zucchini grown in our garden, all in a few moments.  Writing for me is like securing a 'golden lasso' and rounding-up my ideas du jour and transposing them onto my iPad screen via my fingertips on the keyboard.  The strongest ideas are elicited by various triggers such as a current event, a conversation or a particular photograph I've taken with my trusty Canon EOS. 

Brenna, our oldest grandchild, spent two weeks with us in Florida last August and I vividly remember it being comfortably warm with a slight drizzle as we walked along the Atlantic shoreline at Cocoa Beach one afternoon.  Many of the pictures I took of her that day captured her beauty, her slight, six-year-old stature, the isolated feeling of being  so alone and small next to the shear vastness of the ocean.....  But, for me, the most prevalent force captured that day was totally defined by the reflection of  innocence that her healthy bloom of youth and purity spread across the glassy shoreline.  The super-sized umbrella harbored her future deep within its many folds: good with the bad, happiness mingled with the sad......but, Brenna's life, nonetheless.

In researching quotes on the subject of innocence, I happened by two that totally stood out from all the rest and enjoyed their minor 'hint of fame' based on the humor that existed within their creation.  Each quote was a direct attempt at influencing laughter and corresponded with the time and place allotted to it in history, allowing the reader to indulge a craving for feeling good and laughing a bit at the world around them.  This was often done in order to permit the audience a small diversion from sadness or grief.

The American poet, Frederic Ogden Nash, was well known for his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes", that made him a best-known author of over five-hundred pieces of comic verse written between 1931 and 1972.  Much like the Dr. Seuss books written by Theodor Geisel in the 1950's and beloved by children all over the world, Ogden Nash had the propensity for crafting his own words whenever rhyming words failed to exist.  "A bit of talcum is always walcum" and "Parsley is gharsley!" are two examples.  However, he is probably best known for his "Reflections on Ice-Breaking" with his immortalized quote, "Candy is dandy but, liquor is quicker."

In learning several days ago that our Miss Brenna had lost her first 'baby tooth' and that it was snuggled in its own 'little pillow' safely beneath the large one that our granddaughter rests her pretty little head on each night, I recalled an obscure quote by Mr. Nash that I must have read years before.  It went, "Like the tongue that seeks the missing tooth, I yearned for my extracted youth." 

That made me think....

Was I just in time when taking those pictures on the beach?  Did I capture the innocent child within the child....not knowing then how fleeting that innocence would become, so near in the future?   I realize Mr. Nash is best known for his comic verse and I've chuckled at his quotable quotes a time or two....but, it's easy to see how losing that tiny symbol of 'babyhood' (a small, white tooth) becomes the initial vestige of what is to be!  Am I prepared for the inevitable, having been down that rocky road as a parent and already experienced first-hand how time refuses to stand still and allow us to just breathe every now and then?  Most importantly, do I have a choice?

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Innocence is like an umbrella: When once we've lost it, we must never hope to see it back again."  I am quoting a passage that was written for and printed in Punch Magazine, a publication that began in the early 1840's in the United Kingdom and derived its name from the glove-puppet, Mr. Punch, of the famous Punch and Judy Puppet Show that delighted and entertained many young children of that era.  The magazine became a staple of British drawing rooms because of its satirical and humorous intent while adopting a highly sophisticated manner with the absence of offensive material, according to Wikipedia.

 

 

 

I look at her picture and shout, "Please don't let go of that umbrella, Brenna Bean!  Hold on tight to it for now and, besides, it isn't the right time yet..."  This is truly her Age of Innocence (thank you, Edith Wharton) and to have her let go of that symbol only to have it wash away into the vast sea and be lost forever would break my heart. 

Again, I am fully aware of the inevitability of the progression of time...trust me, I look into the mirror each and every day!  The "Age of Innocence" lasts for such a minute period in our lives, a few short years that pass by us like Indy cars coming around the fourth corner and into the straightaway hitting maximum speeds!  The loss of innocence isn't about watching a few gray hairs appear on your head or coping with the advent of an AARP card sent to you for the first time in the mail.  Rather, it's realizing that along with the good in life, there will always be something bad out there, too, such as bullying.  It's dealing with a body shape or facial features that don't always meet the expectations and standards we set for ourselves.  And, it's understanding that sometimes even our BFF can be jealous or cruel but, we are able to forgive and move on.  It's being aware of the loving, giving person that resides within each and every one of us.

My guilty pleasure, as I grow into my maturity, is knowing that my daughters have learned many of life's lessons very well and are passing that knowledge on to their children, my grandchildren.  I am so proud of them. 

 

 

For now, my recommendations concerning future prudent actions, Darling Granddaughter, would be to deposit all current and future profits from 'lost baby teeth' into your savings.  Open that umbrella  most carefully and allow the features that will shape your future to be extricated slowly allowing you to make good decisions in your life.  When rash decisions are made, (and, they will be) learn to cope with their consequences.  Protect yourself as much as possible but, leave enough vulnerability to let the love inside you shine and make its way out into the world.  Always help others, whether they are aware of this need or not.  Remember that you are a precious individual who deserves to be loved as dearly as those you give your love to...

"Breathe.....don't try to be perfect."

 

 

Whether you choose to seek out youthful dreams as you begin to grow into your maturity or, after losing that umbrella into the enormous ocean,  you decide to never hope to see it back again...those decisions will always be yours to make.

For a little while longer, gaze into the vastness of the deep, blue sea and enjoy the sweet innocence of youth.

 

Always remember to Love........!