Aoife saw me sitting at the dining table just resting, me and my broken arm, when she came and sat in the seat nearest her paper, crayons and pencil and told me she was going to do a quick sketch of me. Like, that’s kinda what I needed right then and she was capable of getting it done.
She formed the eyes with her toilet paper roll; with a quick swipe she captured the bottom of each eye. Then critiquing for a second, she decided the mouth was too low into the chin so she erased it and moved it up. the nose too needed an adjustment toward the center.
Then the hair, with a flourish, she drew each strand finishing with, “those are your ears;" then she slid it over to me knowing I would definitely want to take it with me; it was that good.
The thing about 5 year olds that would be worth preserving is the absolute confidence in the perfection of her creation and the sure knowledge that you will appreciate the gifting of it.
