the richter scale

was the glass in your office
vibrating today around, oh, 2pm?

yep,
that was caroline.

giving her lungs the Ul.Ti.Ma.Te.
workout.

i sincerely didn’t know
this littleangel piece-of-work
was even capable of
a period of screaming that
Loud and that Unceasing.

rewind 40 min,
enter stage left, pediatrician’s office:

she loved the pink paddle
she got to use to cover her eye
for the eye exam
(’star!’ ‘cup!’ ‘it’s a heart!’ as she
called out the characters)

and she giggled her way thru
the hearing exam,
cocking her head and laughing at
the nurse as he buzzed the little
sounds in her ear. so funny.

and then there was the gown.
when she saw the paper gown
she was going to wear,
well, well, glory be.

she insisted on only putting one arm
in the one sleeve;
think wilma flintstone.

and she wanted the ‘belt’ tied low
for the drop-waist effect
and she pranced
and she danced
and she generally amused
henry and i for the full 25 min
that we had to wait in the cheery yellow room.

she giggled thru clever dr. w’s exam,
and she looked genuinely astounded
when the sweet dr said she could
feel the broccoli in caroline’s tummy.

and
then
there
were
needles.

henry, brave soldier trooper boy, laid there and
received his 3 shots with no more than
a concerned-but-controlled
‘ouch’
and was dressed a moment later
and thanking the doctor.

by that time,
caroline had ducked down
in a corner of the room
and was already
s.o.b.b.i.n.g.
and shaking her head
and absolutely NOT going to
participate.

so i coaxed her over
and onto my lap
[read: i picked up her flailing little self]

and then the world as
i knew it
ceased to exist
for the next
fourteen
tumultuous
minutes.

her parting words,
in full-throttle-scream,
to our dear dr. w:

‘I-AM-NEVER-COMING-HERE-AGAIN!’

and with that
we exited
to find a waiting room full
of saucer-eyed children +
adults alike.

and on the way home,
she reiterated,

‘I am NEVER going there again.
next time,
take betsy!’

ahhhh, the touching display of sisterly loyalty.

ps – the sweetest part for me
was henry’s response
to this ultimate display
of terror in his younger sister.

he sobbed.
he pulled his knees up to his chin
and buried his face in his pants.
he carefully held her
shoulders and,
through his own tears,
comforted her,
‘caroline, it’s okay.
caroline, she’s not trying to hurt you.
caroline. caroline.’

unfortunately,
caroline was on another planet
and didn’t notice his
sweet display of tlc.

ps – happy columbus day wknd

pps – need a new book?

ppps – need a new look?