From the Backseat #10 Not Quite.....

I haven’t shared a “word” from the backseat in a while. Not to run this in the ground but when you have a 5 year old who thinks if his eyes are open, his mouth must be, you tend to forget the many words that escape- even if they are funny, clever or interesting. And “escape” is about all 90% of them do—no forethought, no afterthought, just purely escaped because there was a possibility of silence in the car. Brighton’s heaven forbid. If you’ve ever talked to me while my precious boy was sitting in my back seat, you have most likely heard his voice before I could hit “end” on my phone. He just erupts. He has learned to be fairly quiet while I am on the phone but he can hold back the tidal wave of thoughts that have been triggered by his brief gazes out the window for only so long. And Julia’s need for a book under her nose at all times does not help his need and desire for listening ears. Usually, sitting right beside him, she is in a completely different period of history. I am one who appears to be doing nothing at all, available to answer questions that have no concise answer, “Why is it sort of cloudy, sunny today?”, “Mom, do you pull for TCU or the Texas Rangers?”, “Why are people at Chuckee Cheese when it is dark?”, “What time is it?” (1 o'clock, I say) “How long is that?”, or “Does God have hands?”.

The questions born from this particular observation from our back seat window, to my relief, called for concrete answers. I could answer these and not have a hundred better ideas come to me over the next 24 hours. A while back, Brighton started noticing graveyards and cemeteries and of course, the questions took flight. “What is that place, Momma?”, “What are those big stones?”, “Why are the stones different shapes?”, “Why are some big and some small?”, “Who are all those flowers for?”, “Why is there a big tractor in there?”, “Why are there so many cars there today?” Just as you would, I explained the purpose of a graveyard reminding him of the small graveside service of his great grandfather. This was his response to all my perfectly good, concise explanations. I obviously left something pivotal out of my explanation. He said,

“You mean, they were just walking around in there and died?”