Christmas gift – Hilary Clark Studios

As I mentioned in my previous post, I don’t often get to visit my niece and nephew, Big G and Lil’ G. Lil’ G is always a little shy around me the first day of a visit. He’s all boy and loves his Mommy, Daddy, Sissy, and his Grandpas the best. Aunt Hil and the Grandmas get hugs but then he’s off to talk to the men. I don’t blame him. How else is the little dude supposed to learn all that guy stuff that guys know?

This little guy also has a huge heart. When my brother asked him what he was most excited about for Christmas: the love all his grandparents would shower on him over the holiday or the presents, this kid chose the love. He’s the smartest of all of us. Either that, or he knew his answer would get him more presents. Again, Lil’ G is a sharp kid.

After he warms up, he is happy to take my hand to cross the street. We visit and he tells me about Lego’s and his favorite shows and his favorite characters. We play with his toys and read books together. He’s into Ant Man and the Hulk. I’m not too familiar with Ant Man, although the movie is in the Netflix queue, but I do know the Hulk. I’ve always liked the Hulk. Bright green color, doesn’t take anything from anybody, independent, and can smash stuff with his bare hands when he’s mad. My kind of superhero.

I drew Lil’ G a picture of the Hulk and mailed it to him earlier last year. He hung it on the wall in his room and I saw it first thing when I went in to play pirates. For his Christmas gift, I made him something a little more durable than a piece of paper…a piece of art.

Hulk Smash (link to poem)

Hulk - Closeup — What’s not to love about this guy?

Next up: I’m planning a series of crosses. Stay tuned.

I don’t often get to visit my niece, Big G, or my nephew, Lil’ G. They live across the country, so we Skype for holidays and I fly out a couple of times a year to sleep on an air mattress in Big G’s room. When she was born, the first of my brother’s children, there was an instant connection between us. The last time I visited, I arrived late at night, after the kids were in bed, then woke up at dawn because my internal clock said it was time to be up. I brewed a cup of coffee and sat on the patio, enjoying the sunrise before the heat of the day. When Big G woke before the rest of the house, she came to the patio door. My arms opened wide, she climbed in my lap, and our arms wrapped tight around each other for a hug. We sat like that minute after minute, happy to see each other again. Then we started talking about books and poems and cats and art and Paris and all the things that she and I love together and everyone else wonders how the things I love the most came to be the things she loves the most, without me ever telling her until she told me she loved whatever it is. The magic of family, of God’s connection, I think.

No one knows where Big G’s love of Paris came from. One day, she started talking about it to her parents out of the blue. They told me the next time we talked and I admit to being surprised. I fell in love with Paris when I was young and I don’t know where it came from for me either. Maybe that’s just what some girls do when they are growing up and reach a particular age.

It’s easy to share books and read each others poems. It’s not as easy to share Paris, at least not at the age she is now (a trip is planned when she turns 18…things to look forward to!). Then I realized it was easy after all. I could give her the gift of Paris, the iconic symbol of Paris, with my art.

Someday, Paris (link to poem)