Dear Reader:

When Rutledge, Lachlan, and Mollie arrived yesterday (amidst the driling and hammering of new windows) Rutledge called out to me “I want Hope, Boo Boo”…“I want Hope, Boo Boo”!

I knew, of course, he was referring to the rocking dolphin but still, for a deja vu moment…the words echoed and reverberated throughout my consciousness.

Later when I looked at the first picture I took of Rutledge on Hope the Dolphin…(with the last three words visible on my family room sign…”my Happy Place“seen behind him) the window of my heart opened wide to a most glorious moment. There was such a look of happiness and contentment surrounding him…it was as if Hope the Dolphin has just taken the Happy Room up a notch…adding hope to the happiness.

As Mollie followed Rutledge in…carrying Lachlan, a physical feat of honor in itself, she told me that all Rutledge could talk about, on the way over,  was how much he wanted to “ride Hope.”

“Ride Hope.” In a sense… isn’t that what we all do throughout our journey of life…ride hope and hold on as tight as we can… for as long as we can?

The Free Dictionary defines hope as:  To wish for a particular event that one considers possible

I don’t know that I totally agree with that definition…I have done a whole of hoping (against hope) for things that I don’t necessarily consider possible within the restrictions of human life and laws of nature.

My hope, instead, falls under the subcategory of “miracles” which always falls under the second subcategory of “faith” which lies directly under the main category called God.

On those rare but “off” days when I simple don’t want to “people” that day…when I am upset and just want to be alone…that is when I realize that hope is always synonymous with God…not man.

Yesterday…I was so-o-o- ready to “people” with Mollie, Rutledge, and Lachlan! We got lunch from the Continental Corner and brought home. Rutledge ate in the big boy (adult) chair with the rest of us while Lachlan made his debut in the historically “white high chair” of old…It has seen quite a few generations of Baby Dingles sitting in it.

Then we all walked out to the garden…to make wishes in the fountain, swing on the rope, and just enjoy the beautiful cool day.

Lachlan decided to eat his toes for recreation and hang tight with mom…

After lunch Mollie and Lachlan went shopping but Rutledge wanted to stay with me (I was so thrilled)…though I must admit part of his decision dealt with all the trucks in the yard from the workmen installing the windows.

…Plus I told him we could go into the “magic secret closet” and I knew I had him then.

The top shelf of the linen closet is dedicated to keeping about ten of Tommy’s Hess trucks from every Christmas as a toddler to young adulthood. (Doodle, the gift that keeps on giving!) Tommy has the rest of them with him….so you can imagine Rutledge’ eyes when I open the “magic, secret closet.”

“Rut Rut Ding-Truck” is totally overcome with excitement each time we open the “Best of Hess” to play with…

Rutledge really lucked up with the Hess truck pulling the shuttle because the batteries still (magically) worked on it and the red light on the shuttle beeped and blinked…he hit the jackpot!

Rutledge also demonstrated his dancing “Moves” for me with a little number called “Stinky Legs.”

Later we did a “duet” dance to it…I could get down…getting back up was tougher.

All the workers were so kind and let Rutledge sit in their trucks while they were banging away….and then Rutledge “drove” Boo Boo’s car….

About two hours after he left I was going to run to the store and forgot about Rutledge’s pretend driving…I started the car and the wind shield wipers started wiping furiously…the radio blared  at the top of its volume capacity and my left turn switch stayed on until it dawned on me it was still blinking halfway to the store. Yes Rutledge had a big day…and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

So until tomorrow…Let’s all ride hope for as long as we can because it takes us the farthest in this world called life.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*By the time Rutledge left he had outplayed his outfit…so he was now down to his skivvies…in a manner of speaking.

Nevertheless… he demonstrated his fast gait to me while wearing his Clemson cap …a future Tiger on the run.

* Joan Turner sent me these happy pictures and I found my smile growing bigger and bigger…Thanks for sharing Joan…they made my day!

Happy Pictures – YouTube

*Speaking of happy…the number of views “hit” 30,000 last night…I want to take a moment and thank all of you loyal readers for keeping this blog post operational since starting over last November…it means more to me than you will ever know…medicine for the soul.