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Jeri k Tory Conklin
THE LITTLE RED-HAIRED GIRL: IN SEARCH OF A FAMILY
I’m sure we have all heard the stories of how we got here to be born – fell off the cabbage truck; stork brought you; flew in on the tail of a kite … I’m here to tell you I heard it differently – my parents said, “I rode in on a horse.” That could be true, horses were all I ever wanted and thought about growing up.
Then one day my grandma Myrtle told me a different story, a story I liked much better. She said, “God sent you from Heaven in a boat with Captain Bob. You sailed right through the clouds to meet your mom and dad.” I like that story better actually.
I have a friend, Matthew Pinard (www.matthewpinardauthor.com) an amazing writer and author in his own right. Please check out his website and wonderful books. Anyway, he was sending me cloud pictures and he sent the one at the end of this story. As I zoomed out on the picture (that is how I find images in the clouds) I saw the angel boat my grandma had told me about, loaded with children coming to Earth.
Little did Matthew know the significance of his picture. Soften your eyes and imagine the boat load of children, there are about 8 children visible in the picture. If you need help seeing the boat and children, I can send you an outlined picture. While you are at it, check out your own clouds and see what images the angels send you. Believe they are there, you will see them, I promise.
Ever Wonder How You Got to Earth to be Born into a Family?
The boat to Earth had left my cloud for the day and once again, I had been left behind. Surely there must be a family somewhere on Earth that wanted a cute little red-haired girl. I would bring merriment, laughter, and joy to their otherwise quiet lifestyle, this I guaranteed. In fact, I was so good at what I did, Captain Bob worried about the kind of family to send me to. My progress reports weren’t always the best! Words like precocious and a real handful weren’t in my vocabulary, but they were on my report cards quite often.
It was unfortunate that my previous stint as an Earth child ended so suddenly. I was just about ready to be born into my new family when poof, Captain Bob called me back to my cloud. Seems he had gotten the family’s baby order wrong. The family wanted a red-haired boy not a red-haired girl. Until we get an Earth family, we spend time as an angel-in-training. Personally, I think it was a way to keep us corralled and busy all day. While I truly enjoyed my stint as an angel in training, I also found life on one of Heaven’s many clouds rather boring. After all, who wants to slide down fluffy slides and play on cotton soft trampolines all day?
In that our stay in Heaven was only temporary (until we get an order from Earth to join a family), we didn’t have our own individual pets like other Earth children, rather we shared our favorites with everyone else. Our halos also had to be on straight at all times. Keeping my halo on straight was definitely not easy for me at all! At least on Earth if they slipped once in a while, no one really noticed. There weren’t any beaches in Heaven, nor were there any mountains. Just mile after mile of endless, white, fluffy clouds. The weather was always the same – perfect. Never too hot, never too cold. Oh, how I longed to return to Earth and be a child again.
While in Heaven awaiting assignment of a family, I am an ageless soul. Compared to an Earth child, I see myself as about six years old. My mental awareness however, is far beyond that of an Earth child. Not knowing the geographical area, I might be assigned to, I have mastered three different languages: French, English and German. Learning how to please a family takes up most of my time here. Baby smiles and gurgles are the hardest to master. I find making such gibberish sounds a very tiring task. Why do parents get so excited when a baby mouths its first word? Being grounded until it is time for me to walk is another hardship to endure. Like a new born foal, I’m ready to run and play at birth, and yet, I have to wait until I age appropriately. Linear time as experienced on Earth stinks.
My previous assignments as an Earth child haven’t been so bad. In fact, I’ve really enjoyed most of them. I had a cat in one family to which I was born. It was a pretty cat – tiger striped. His name was Buttons. One day it had rained the night before and Buttons was covered in mud. I knew he couldn’t come in the house all dirty, I could fix that. I remembered watching my mother put the dirty clothes in the washing machine, it wasn’t hard. With bold determination, I grabbed Buttons and stuffed him into the washing machine. Wouldn’t mama be proud of me? Buttons was going to be clean. Closing the washing machine door, I somehow managed to hit the right button to start the cycle. Such yelling that came from inside the washer – Buttons must be enjoying it I thought. When it was all finished, I pulled out my dripping wet cat and carried him to the house. “Mama look, all clean.” Not only was he clean, he was also dead as dead could be. I hope he forgives me.
Speaking of parents, I’ve had my share with the different families I’ve been born into. Some parents are like a stuck record, they will never change. Then there are those who do everything for their child. Don’t get me wrong, being catered to is nice for a short time. One family I had never allowed me to lift a finger. In fact, when it came time for me to experience a broken leg, they broke it for me. On the other hand, one Earth family believed strongly in the saying, “The Lord helps those who help themselves.” I never worked so hard in any of my other lives. I was really glad to be called back from that assignment. It took me several light years for the blisters to finally wear off my hands.
I really learned a lot for all my births on Earth. I learned about all the different kinds of families there were: good, bad and indifferent. I learned all the little pleasures parents derive from children, and the pleasures children derive from parents. Most of all I learned to take my time in progressing through life. There is so much to see and learn along the way.
“Oh look,” the boat to Earth has turned around and is coming back. It must have forgotten something, could it possibly be me?
“We need a little red-haired girl,” said Captain Bob, “would you like to come?”
“You betcha,” I said, as my halo slipped. Climbing aboard, I began my current Earth life with two wonderful parents who both wanted a little red-haired girl.
“Precocious” was the word they used, and Captain Bob knew just the child. I had them for four years all to myself before my brother and sister came along, but that is another story.
