I asked Faith Cora if her baby brother knew his name; and if he looked at her, when she called it. She immediately ran to his resting place on the sofa, put her little mouth down to his ear and hollered, “CHAIR WEAF”!! Sure enough, he turned and looked.

 

Mama Jan is struggling a little tiny bit to replace Chair Leaf with Abram. While theoretically I agree that Abram Michael is a better name for a year 2016 non-hippie child, it’s hard to let go of Faith Cora’s whimsical moniker.

 

I also inquired if he had a nickname, and sure enough he does: Pillow.

 

Our conversations range all the way from her honest-to-goodness-application-grasp of a vortex and an interloper to imaginary talking squirrels named Salt and Pepper. Her words and knowledge make me think, smile, and oftentimes swell with pride.

 

I hope my life and conversations with my Father are doing the same. I know he wants to smile at me because he told me so in a win-win loop around blessing in his book of Numbers:

 

Then the Lord said to Moses,

 

“Tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel

 

with this special blessing:

 

‘May the Lord bless you

and protect you.

 

May the Lord smile on you

and be gracious to you.

 

May the Lord show you his favor

and give you his peace.’

 

Whenever Aaron and his sons

 

bless the people of Israel in my name,

 

I myself will bless them.”

 

Numbers 6:22-27