Thursday, January 21, 2021

If It Fits


We were driving down the road last weekend and saw a group of women leaving the beach. Dressed in winter gear, hats with poms and fur-lined hoods on down coats — they were probably on some girl’s winter get-away, bailing on a walk for hot coffee and paperbacks after discovering the brutal beach wind. 


I was unfazed until I heard my six-year-old say, “Maybe I can marry one of those girls back there.” It was all I could do not to spit-take my coffee from laughter. “Buddy, you’ve got a long time before you need to think about marrying someone.” 


“I know,” he said, “But I want to keep an eye out so I’ll know when the time comes.” 


As we drifted into silence and my smirk faded, I realized he’s got a plan for his life already, and it matches what he sees his dad and I doing. Which is sweet, if that’s what he wants and needs. My fear, though, is that he thinks there is a story he has to follow. 


Then it hit me, of course he thinks there’s one story...Despite our best pre-Covid efforts, our world is now curbside pick-up and squares on a computer screen. His family is all he sees.


In light of the world’s brokenness and desperate need for unity, I can’t help but wonder about the harm caused by our kid’s limited exposure right now to the many vibrant walks of life out there. 


This was on my mind when we read Alma and How She Got her Name, Juana Martinez Neal’s Caldecott Honor. Neal tells the story of a little girl named Alma Sofia Esperanza Jose Pura Candela. Alma complains to her daddy that her name never fits on her paper. He responds by saying, “Let me tell you the story of your name. Then you decide if it fits.” He tells her about her namesakes, of complex lives filled with books, dreams of travel, faith, art and activism. She sees herself in each of them, and it inspires her to create her own story.


So for today, we’ll read them lots of books and tell them lots of stories... Then, when Covid allows, we’ll incorporate our communities and travel back in. Like Alma’s daddy, we’ll offer them lots of stories, so when their time comes, they can decide for themselves if it fits.


#juanamartinezneal

#almaandhowshegothername


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