Talking About Death

"What does Easter mean?"

I paused with a bite of toast halfway to my mouth yesterday morning, and began to think through the response. I was quite sure that James had heard the word "resurrection." He knows who Jesus is. He had probably heard the words "death" and "dead."

"James...do you know what death is? What it means when you say that someone has died?"

He's four years old. But I've tried to be honest about life in a mortal body with him so far, and I guessed that he would understand what dying meant. Yes, you get sleepy once you're awake for too many hours. Sugar can rot your teeth. You have a penis and you don't need to feel embarrassed about it. Yes, you too will die some day.

At any rate, we played in a graveyard today and he loved it.

That isn't quite so bad as it sounds. I remember how much I looked forward to visiting the Mt. Albion cemetery as a child. I loved climbing up the steep hills, looking through all the fascinating marble stones, and then ascending the great stone tower at the top of the cemetery and looking out over the county.

We bundled up both of the boys this morning after we ran and took them down to Mount Hope cemetery. James had a great time. He looked for his name on the stones and found it on several. (Plenty of J-A-M-E-S, but no O-W-E-N.) The grounds there are beautiful, and he admired the walkways and the brilliant green lawn. There were angles and crosses and obelisks and columns to look at, and a biting wind that cut through the bright sunshine.

He wore his boots and still got the seat of his pants all muddy from scrambling down hills. I don't think that the conversation from the previous morning even crossed his mind as he walked over and through all of the final resting places of the Rochesterians. J and I marked familiar names as we went through the paths--names that are also on college dormitory buildings, hospital wings, and recital halls.

We used a gift certificate that we'd been saving since Christmas afterwards and ate some hot Italian food. Owen flirted with a waitress and tried to eat crayons. But James told J that he would say please and thank-you and hello, and that he would stay in his seat.

He's encountering the adult world a little bit more every day, and it isn't bothering him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp9uVL29qiU