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<\/a><\/p>\nI don\u2019t know if word got back to you about the words I wrote <\/a>\u00a0last year, but some things never change.\u00a0 The universal truth about children who believe in leprechauns is that they all want to catch one.\u00a0 Whether because of folklore or family stories passed down through generations, there is something irresistibly enchanting about capturing one of you.\u00a0 I can only imagine that idea sends shivers down your little spines.\u00a0 Almost if by magic, the turning of the calendar page to the month of March creates in children an obsession with all things engineering and creative, if not wistfully enticing.<\/p>\n What you probably don\u2019t know was how\u00a0much I needed your visit to spread some fun and laughter.\u00a0 Time stands still for no one . . . especially our children who each day grow and mature into amazing young people.\u00a0 Perhaps it is because Reed was taken from us much too\u00a0young or perhaps it is because my heart wants my children to stay little forever just like Peter Pan, I am\u00a0simply not ready for one of them to launch into the world.<\/p>\n Strapped in with a warm blanket, I rode that roller coaster of emotions on the eve of your visit.\u00a0 Watching a movie which\u00a0poignantly depicted\u00a0a young man going away to college, I broke down and sobbed.\u00a0 While you were whispering in the wind before your stop at our home, my heart wrenched at the thought that someday soon that same\u00a0scene will be one in which I play a part.\u00a0 The movie was delightfully entertaining, but I went to bed with a heavy heart.<\/p>\n As I lay sleepless in bed, my thoughts went back to a tender moment at Reed\u2019s services when a mom, who had walked in my shoes, whispered as she hugged me.\u00a0 \u201cI am thanking God that you have Cloie.\u201d\u00a0 Those same words had they come from anyone else probably would not have been etched in my heart.\u00a0Even so, at the time, I didn\u2019t know how wise she really was.\u00a0 The last thoughts in my head, as my eyes succumbed to the weariness of the day, were her encouraging words.<\/p>\n I will admit to having a lingering thought of what would await me the next day because many a St. Patrick\u2019s morn have been spent cleaning up the Because of the late hour of my slumber, I did not stir until I heard the wee one (as you call her) cry out, \u201cOh dear! What have they done with bacon!\u201d\u00a0 Nothing will quite wake up a momma quicker than the thought of cured salt pork smeared all over her house.\u00a0 Her astonished cries were followed by tender, gentle cooing for her favorite porcine stuffy, Bacon.\u00a0 She cuddled and caressed him to make sure he wasn\u2019t too traumatized. Bacon (with a capital B)\u00a0\u2013 not bacon (the breakfast food) – \u00a0was snuck away from her safe little arms where he spends all of his nights and stuffed inside the trap that had been meant to catch one of you.\u00a0 (Of course, you all know that.)<\/p>\n I know you might not believe this, since so far, my children’s track record has not been very welcoming or inviting to you three.\u00a0The same compassion she lavished on her stuffed friend was utilized when she jumped out of her warm\u00a0bed to get you a soft towel because she couldn’t bear the thought of one of you spending a night cold and wet on hard rocks.<\/p>\n Floating away on the morning air, the heaviness of my heart was lifted as I watched her comfort her beloved pig.\u00a0 She spent the next few minutes examining the traps (Shoe Mart and Diving for Gold) to see what went wrong and what she could possibly do to improve her chances of <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nmess<\/del> adventure you have left for my children.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\ncapturing<\/del> meeting you next year.\u00a0 You probably should have untied the harness, because now she has a pretty good idea exactly how big you are.<\/p>\n