the hello party

Today when I was bathing Sophia, the water was so warm and I was washing her back. She said, "This is a really, really great bath."

We had a party tonight to say goodbye to our friends Jon and Beth who are moving to Ontario. When I explained to Sophia why we were having it she said she didn't want them to move. "But I love them", she said. Then she said she would like to have a 'Hello Party', not a 'Goodbye' one. So we had a Hello Party, where we pretended her bear and dolly and bunny had all just moved here. We had popcorn and they all wore paper hats or skirts we made out of lunch bags. It feels all too rare for me to stop and play instead of worrying about getting stuff done, and I'm glad I did, it was a lovely time.

Sophia already knows about distance from friends at her young age. When she was in the bath Sophia said she would really like to see Ari and Noah, our friend's little boys. I said, "They live far away, in a place called Winkler." She said, "I like Winkler. That is my favourite neighbourhood." Didn't know she knew that word either.

I say so many goodbyes in my life, it occurred to me today that heaven will just be a Hello Party. There will no more goodbyes. Hallelujah.