March 31st 2009 10:51 pm
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Here's an Oomi story.

I was clearing out a huge collection of toys from my desk (the accumulation of several years of gifts). Most were little fast food extras, that sort of thing. I had about 40 of them and was preparing for a garage sale and trying to decide if I wanted to keep any. As usual, Oomi appointed himself my helper. I was sitting on the floor sorting the toys and putting the garage sale items in a box. Oomi could never resist toys. He looked at the box as if to say “cool, toys!” and casually started digging around in the box with his paw, looking through the toys, picking up some, pushing others out of the way. One by one, he starts digging toys out of the box and starts playing with them; three in particular seemed to catch his eye; a small transformer, a toy car and two wind-up pterodactyls on wheels. I said, “Oomi, no, those are going away. You have plenty of toys already.” (Which was true, he had an obscene amount of toys.) Then I put them back into the box and went back to sorting. A minute later, I see a little brown striped paw, digging around in the box. One by one he starts pulling out toys, including… a small transformer, a toy car and the wind-up pterodactyls on wheels. “Oomi, I have to get rid of stuff. We can’t keep all these toys.” I put the toys back. At this point, he looked a bit pouty and walked a short distance away. Ten minutes later he’s back, happily digging through the box in that cheerful Oomi way. “OK”, I said, “You can have one. Go ahead. Pick it out.” He looks at me, digs in the box and pulls out the transformer, then starts digging again. “Oomi.” He stops. “OK. Which ones do you want?” He starts digging. “Not all of them!” He stops briefly, and then pulls out the toy car. I start to put the top on the box and he puts his paw in, stopping me. Admitting defeat, I hold the top open. He reaches in and retrieves both the wind-up pterodactyls on wheels, paws around a bit more and sits back, finished.

Did he understand every word? Who knows? But he got the gist of it. He always did. My wild, crazy boy who knew that toys are important.

The flowers on your grave are just starting to come up again. Soon, they will bloom. Today it’s been a year since I lost you, but I you are always with me and you always will be.