Helen Keller

Did any of you ever read Helen Keller when you were a child?  It was one of my favorite books.  I read and read and read. I learned the ASL alphabet, and then read it again. 

 

I have been thinking a lot of Helen Keller lately as I watch my son develop at speeds that amaze me. This first year is chock full of more changes and growth than can really be fathomed. And then I think, wouldn't it be amazing if we could remember the wonder that goes along with childhood development? 

 

We don't.  We forget it.  Our long-term memory does not hold onto it.  We can't remember the amazing

feeling of finding our fingers and shoving them into our mouths. Or how hysterical it is when Dad blew raspberries at you.  The feel of cold water.  The thrill of figuring out how to put the binky BACK in. How amazing it must be! 

 

The reason I think of Helen Keller is I always remember the part of the tale where she makes the connection between the motions Annie makes in her hand with the water running over it.  And all of a sudden the world comes alive!  Like being a baby all over again.  But conscious of it.  Aware.  Able to remember the excitement, the wonder.

 

Now, I'm not wishing blindness, deafness, and muteness on my child! Or any child for that matter. I just wish...I wish he could remember these experiences. 

 

I think it must be like when as a child or adult we figure out something.  That EUREKA! feeling. That excitement, the joy.  But for a baby, it happens nearly every day for months! I want to know what it's like to be in that brain. What he feels, what he dreams about.  I want in. 

 

I want him to feel like Helen Keller.

 

And I'm not going to lie.  I want to feel like her, too.