4-Year-Old Wisdom: In a Thunderstorm? Look for a Rainbow.

The last time I sat down to write, I was starting work on Kitty’s unintentionally forgotten memory book, a task that was entrusted to me not long after Kitty was born.  My goal was to complete the book in time to give my daughter on what would be Kitty’s eighth birthday in April.  It was a goal I couldn’t meet – craft stores were closed because of the pandemic and online shopping proved frustrating due to sold out pink paper and scrapbooking supplies.

I struggled to find what I wanted – and needed - to assemble the ‘perfect’ pages for my granddaughter’s book.  So, I set my sights on a Mother’s Day deadline, only to see the month of May come and go.  Now I am determined to finish the keepsake before Mandy’s birthday in August.  I can – and will – do this!

My emotional experience working on this little project compares to our summer weather in Minnesota: sunny, warm and comfortable one day; stormy, humid and unbearable the next.  There have been good days when I delighted in remembering Kitty’s mischievous personality and there were difficult days when my focus drifted towards the circumstances of her untimely death and much too short life. 

What remains to complete in Kitty’s scrapbook are the cover page and the end pages.  Photos have been selected and layouts planned for both the beginning and the end of the book, but I have had distractions – some, I admit, intentional.  I am a bit afraid to finish my project.  It will be yet another ending, another finality.  So, during the last few weeks, I have occupied myself with baking indulgent dessert recipes, babysitting my youngest grandchildren and digging deeper into closets and dresser drawers.

During my cleaning frenzy, I found an illustrated story written in 2018 by the Dasher at the wise old age of four.  Two sheets of ruled notebook paper depict scribbled drawings and attempts at printing both her name and the words she wanted to share.  My description of her story is added to the sheets. 

Two years ago, I knew this story would be a creation that I would someday want to remember. 

Title: “What to do in a Thunderstorm”

• Be sure to have a flashlight.
• Make sure the plants are watered.
• Go in the house.
• If you’re in the car, roll down the windows and tell everyone in the car that it is stormy.
• Look for a rainbow.

How brilliant and so very relevant!  

What I now recognize in my little Dasher’s story is that on those stormy days of grief that we all experience:

• Be sure to have your personal ‘flashlight’.   Call on a trusted friend or family member and/or your faith to help you through the darkness.
• Make sure the plants are watered.  Eat well to maintain your health and physical strength.
• Go in the house.  Protect yourself from outside factors that are upsetting and hurtful.
• If you’re in the car, make sure everyone knows that it’s stormy.  Communicate with your loved ones that you are going through a difficult time.  Don’t keep your emotions bottled up inside.
• Look for a rainbow.  Hold onto hope for the future.

How grateful I am that I ran across this little piece of artwork.  My four-year-old granddaughters’ ink scribbles transformed to a concrete list of treasured reminders.  I am now better prepared to finish Kitty’s memory book, thanks to Dasher’s wise words. 

On the dark stormy days, when I find it hard to put pictures to page, I will remember what to do in a thunderstorm and I will find hope in a rainbow.

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