I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.
I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?
Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Lauren and her PawPaw spent a lot of time on the phone making big plans for our Alabama visit. They planned to wrestle alligators, catch birds and coons, shoot rifles and arrows, and go fishing. They managed to accomplish pretty much all of it during our stay. They wrangled an alligator they named Gobbler, caught and released a raccoon, went fishing, shot balloons and soda cans with a BB gun, and spent hour after hour "practicing" with Lauren's very own bow and arrow set PawPaw bought for her. She seemed to be a real natural and got better and better as the week went on. No matter how hot it was, or how many mosquitoes there were, PawPaw was right there with her, instructing, monitoring, encouraging, and competing. He's such a good grandpa and a wonderful father. He's someone I would want to be friends with even if we weren't related. The Longfellow poem seemed so appropriate as the time these two spent together placed an unbroken song in Lauren's heart. She'll always remember this time with her PawPaw. Who knows? Maybe she'll be an olympic archer someday. When we made it back to California, I tried to enroll her in a local archery camp but was told she was too young. If only they knew our Lauren, they'd see she would have fit right in. Tomorrow is my dad's birthday. We wish we could be there to celebrate with him. We hope he has a wonderful, spectacular day! XOXO!
