15 FebThe Moon Is Rory’s

A letter to my third son when he was two years old

November 15, 1992

Dear Rory,

You are a real buddy to me now.  When I go to work you are very understanding and just wave and say “Bye bye, Daddy.  Bye, bye.”  But when I am going anywhere else you run and hunt for your coat and your shoes even if I tell you that you can’t come and scream so as to break my heart if I make a move to leave without you.  I have taken you to my writing group meetings.  You have been so good at these meetings.  You quietly play or sit on my lap and make eyes at the others in the room who think you are so cute.   

The other night I couldn’t take you with me.  You had gotten all ready anyway with your shoes, your coat, and your hood on so I took you out for a walk around the apartment complex.  I held you close and could hear your little two-year-old breaths.  You pointed out and commented on many things you saw, but it was the moon that impressed you most.  It was full and floated beautifully in the sky.

You pointed at it and said, “Moon.”

I said, “Yes, it’s the moon.”

“My moon?” you asked.

I decided that it was yours as much as anybody else’s and said “Yes, it’s your moon.”

“Oh, my moon,” you said. 

You looked at it for a long time. I saw its reflection in your eyes and its pale light lit up your face.  I’ll always remember that night and that the moon is Rory’s.

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As I searched for ways to capture the wonderful trivial moments of my children’s lives I found a simple, easy method: once a week I take a few moments to write some brief observations on a child’s life. I’ve done this for all eight of my children. There is nothing special about what I’ve done. I simply sit down and take a few minutes to dump a few details and feelings about a child and what’s been going on in our lives. If it was any harder I wouldn’t have done it (scrap booking anyone?). What I have now is a montage of our lives mostly of things that have long been lost to my memory. I say “our” lives because even though these blurbs are about one of my children, it inevitably catches a picture of me in the reflection. Each Sunday I send my kids one entry from their “journals” and we are reliving our lives together. Anyone can do this. You will find it worth it when your children are gone.

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These books by Tory Anderson are now available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback format: