Tuesday, July 17, 2007

We need to observe a moment of silence...PLEASE!

Reagan, shown here with Peyton's Boppy on her head, returned home from church camp yesterday. She walked in the front door sunburned, dog-tired, and nearly completely hoarse. But true to form, her barely-there voice didn't diminish her intense will to converse.

She began speaking the second she spotted me across the room, hardly taking the time to breathe as she detailed each and every aspect of her trip:

-who was there.
-who wasn't.
-what they did.
-what they didn't do.
-who got hurt.
-how they got hurt.
-who helped the hurt people.
-how they helped the hurt people.
-new people she met and where they are from.
-the menu for each meal they had.
-what tasted good.
-what didn't.
-what people wore.
-what they should have worn.
-and a thousand other very important facts it was absolutely necessary for me to know.

I continued listening even when she started insisting that I view (up close!) every mosquito bite she has...even the three on her bottom.

I was patient (oh, so patient), loving and calm. I listened until my ears bled, and when I had reached my limit I suggested gently that it was time to let her voice rest. She agreed and left the room, only to return moments later to tell me about the new boy she likes.

I will listen today, tomorrow and every day after that because if she's anything like another teenager I know, someday I might be missing our conversations... when I am the dumbest person on earth and the last person she wants to speak with.

1 comment:

Cindy said...

Amen to that thought! You said it so well.