A blog post inspired by the word born and a letter from Granny and Grandpa

From Mama Kat’s PrettyMuch World Famous Writer’s Workshop

Prompt 2. Write a blog post inspired by the word born………and a letter from Granny and Grandpa to Lucy:

My in laws live in England, the original Halifax as my husband says

When Lucy was 18 months old, we took her to meet them for the first time

She really does not remember the trip but when we show her pictures or talk about it, she latches onto those memories and can retell them just as easily as we can

The second time we went, Lucy was three and a half

She remembers that trip much better

She remembers having tea and cake at the Watergate

She remembers feeding the ducks and going to visit Nanny Claire

Lucy can describe Granny and Grandpa’s house

And she remembers that Granny has a tin she keeps biscuits (cookies) in for tea time

And that Grandpa was building a boat in the garage

We have not been back to England as a family since

Which is sad for us and for Granny and Grandpa

We miss them as they miss us

We talk about family and friends in England in an attempt to expose Lucy to my husband’s side of the family

We want her to know their names and relations to her as well as she knows my family

Granny and Grandpa decided not too long ago they would start writing to Lucy

They too felt as if they were missing out on a relationship with their third granddaughter

They want Lucy to know them in their own words as much as we do

Yesterday, Lucy received her first Letter from Granny and Grandpa

Now it is not uncommon for Lucy to get mail (she actually gets more real mail than we do) but she never tires of it

Now when I get mail, I rip it open while standing at the mailbox

Not Lucy

She clutched the letter from the mailbox to the house

As we walked into the house, I excitedly asked her who she thinks the letter is from

I don’t know Mumma, I haven’t opened it

Ok well, let’s open it I say practically shoving her to the couch and waiting for her to rip it open

Mumma I have to do my stuff first

Then she took off her shoes, hung up her coat, emptied her back pack and politely asked for some milk and a cheese all the while never releasing her hold on The Letter

When she finally settled down at the table, and had taken a few sips of milk and eaten her cheese stick, she inspected The Letter

Funny stamp she observed

Doesn’t say who it’s from on the outside

Guess I’ll have to open it

Then she hopped down off the chair and headed to her desk

What are you doing I asked because now, the suspense is killing me

I have to do my homework she replied, we have to come up with words that start with O and I just thought of one – over

You’re killing me Luce….

I just have to write it down Mumma, be patient

When she finished her paper, she perched herself back on the chair and finally opened The Letter

She pulled out two folded sheets of paper

The first was a series of photos

Each marked with the subject of the photo

The second was The Letter

She laid both out on the table, side by side, and studied them for a few minutes before making some observations:

That’s Granny and Grandpa

It is I said

Who is that baby

That’s you, when we went to England the first time

Huh, I was small

Yes you were

And that’s Cousin Lauren

It is

And that’s Granny and Grandpa’s house and their car

Yes

I like their car….can you read me the letter Mumma

So I read her the letter……twice

The first time, she had no reaction

She just listened

When I got to the end, she asked me to read it again

The second time, she studied the pictures as I read and every once in a while, she’d interrupt me to ask a question or make a statement

Grandpa looks like Daddy

Yes, they do look alike Luce

How old did Grandpa say he is

76

And how old is Granny

69

Think Granny knows Grandpa is telling everyone how old she is

Probably

Think Granny told him to stop

I chuckled, maybe

They must know I like kitties, they used paper with kitties around it

Yes, they know you like kitties

Granny likes kitties too

Yes she does

And Grandpa used to have a dog that rode in the car with him, Daddy told me

That’s right

Granny and Grandpa live in England where the Queen with the white hair is from

Yes, yes they do

That’s a country like the United States

Yes it is

Are Granny and Grandpa English like Daddy

They are

But I’m American

Well, you were born in America

So I’m American

Yes

But Daddy is English

Yes

And you’re American

Yes

And even though Daddy lives here he is still English

Yes, because he was born in England

So no matter where I live I will always be American

Yes

So even though Granny and Grandpa used to live in Africa they were still English while they were there

That’s right

Can I be both American and English

Well, Daddy is English because he was born in England and you and I are American because we were born here in America

Oh…so I never get to be English…..

Well, you never get to be from England but you have English in you

So I can be English when I want to

It was at this point I realized I was in way deeper than I wanted to be and there was almost no way out…

Not exactly…see, there’s something called nationality which is what country you are from, where you were born…..and then there is something called ethnicity which is what race your family is from – what cultures and countries…

I thought I was part of the human race

You are….but Mummy’s families, which are Noni and Papa’s families, came from Italy and Ireland, so part of you is Irish and Italian like Mummy

And Daddy’s families from Granny and Grandpa are from all over the place….so you are also English, Irish, I think Italian and a hint of Scottish and Welsh though Grandpa and Daddy might deny that

So all our families are from all those places

Yes, at some point someone from all your families lived in all kinds of different countries

But I’m also American

Yes

And I’ll always be American

Yes

Because I was born here

That’s right

What if was born in Africa

What

Like what if you were on a trip and I was born while you were on the trip – what are people from Africa called

Africans

So if I had been born in Africa, I would have been African

Uhh…..no, you would still be American

But you said where you are born is what you are…

Right but…you know what, how about a piece of cake

Mumma, I haven’t even had supper yet

Oh ok well, how about you watch something

Can you read my letter again

So I read it again

Mumma, how come they didn’t tell the story of how they used to live in Africa with hippos, like Daddy told me

Well, you could write back and ask them to tell you about it

How come they don’t live in Africa anymore, I mean don’t they know I dreamed my whole life of going there and they should still live there so I have someplace to stay

Well, they moved a long time ago, before you were even born

Oh yeah, I forget you guys did stuff before I was born

I laughed, yeah, we did Luce

Will they ever go live in Africa again

No honey, they live in England now, that’s where they’ll stay

Think they miss the animals from Africa

They might I said

I mean all England has are sheep and cows….sheep and cows get boring after awhile

I suppose they do I said

Do they know Noni and Papa have deers and turkeys at their house in Maine

I’m not sure Lucy

I can tell them about that in my letter – and I’ll tell them about Ziggy, but I just may do it in pictures, pictures are easier for me than all that writing because I am still just learning words

Ok Luce

I’m gonna watch my show now

Sure Luce

She hopped down and took the letter

Hey Mumma

Yeah Luce

Next time I’m born, can you do it in Africa so I can be from Africa ‘cause I love all the animals in Africa

Sure Luce, I’ll see what I can do

Hey Mumma

Yeah Luce

Do Granny and Grandpa know the Queen

No honey, not very many people actually know the Queen

Oh…hey Mumma

Yeah Luce

How come we don’t have a Queen

What

How come we don’t have a Queen in America

Well, because…

Because why

Because…..

‘cause Mumma the Pilgrims came from England

Yes they did

So if the Pilgrims came from England and the Queen is from England, how come we don’t have a Queen…didn’t they bring a Queen

No honey, they came on their own

Mrs Dionne said they came here for a better life

They did

And a better life was without a Queen she asked

Well, back then it was actually a King

So the Pilgrims came to America with no Queen and no King

That’s right

Because they did not want to have a King or Queen

Well, because they wanted to be free to make their own decisions, to live their life as they wanted to live

And they were born in England so they were not American but they came here to live

Well, no one was an American at that point

Except the Indians who were born here and helped the Pilgrims

Well no…see America was not the United States when the Pilgrims came

What was it

Well, it was.....

see first it was......

Well, see the continents used to be connected and there was this thing called the Bering Strait….….hey Lucy, wanna know where babies come from

I already do Mumma, the Dad puts the baby in the Mom’s tummy and she grows it for a few whiles and then it gets born when the Mom pushes it out her jay-jay or the doctor cuts open her belly and pulls the baby out like what happened to me

Honey

Yeah Mumma

Why don’t you watch something before dinner

Ok….Mumma why are you rubbing you face, do you have a headache

A little bit Luce

Mumma is Ziggy American

Honey Ziggy is a cat

Yeah but he was born in America so he’s American right

Sure honey

I’m glad he was born Mumma

Me too Lucy

Hey Mumma

Are you glad I was born

You have no idea honey

Mumma, if you were never born would I never have been born….and what if you were born but Daddy wasn't would I still be born.....Mumma why are you laying your head on the table, are you tired……