#shirley temple rabbit print

[faeryndipity]

Shirley Temple Rabbit Print JSK

Rough draft of a Fluttershy coordinate I am working on for a My Little Pony convention I am going to later this month! Last year I wore a Pinkie Pie inspired coordinate so this year is Fluttershy.

Dress- Shirley Temple Blouse- Night Whisper Apron & Shawl- Etsy

[meandthemuse]

eight

I was preparing for a presentation this spring, eager to talk to a room full of women about what I was calling Letting the Light In. Essentially, the ability to find beauty in the small moments, capture life in a new way and creating a sense of home.

All of these things were intertwined with recall... the ability to call upon where we came from and where we’ve been in order to best tell our stories. And then it hit me.

I couldn’t remember much before eight. There are flashes – pink frosted circus animal cookies in Kindergarten with Mrs. Pisano playing On Top of Spaghetti on the classroom piano. Was it my birthday? I don’t know. 

Wishing on a star the night before Easter for a rabbit and having one appear the next morning. I named her Thumper. I don’t remember if it was actually a female. (I also had a “pet” spider I kept in a brown paper lunch bag until it scared me and I threw the spider, in the bag, in the far depths of my closet.)

My grandmother making me wear knee-high tall socks and legwarmers on cold days waiting for the bus. The purple poncho she had knitted for me to wear on those same cool days during recess. Her pancakes.

The way my dad’s arm would twist almost backwards in order to get a bottle of pop from Brandi and me in the backseat when we were done taking a drink. And the way he’d hold the steering wheel with his left hand but reach back with his right hand to hold mine, rubbing his thumb back-and-forth on the back of my hand.

Curtains with animal prints at the hospital when my baby brother was born.

Yellow counters. Puppy breath. A Klondike bar. 

There’s no thread that ties anything together, and no real storyline. Just bits and pieces. 

I started to do some research on memory. Researchers say that at six months of age, infants’ memories last for at least a day; at nine months, for a month. By age two, for a year. At age five there’s an 80% recall rate, at age seven, a 60% retention of memory and by age 8, less than 40% retention as children slip into what some researchers call “childhood amnesia.”

It’s not necessarily a loss of memory, but more so a degradation issue. With rapid growth and development, the large and complex network of disparate brain regions that collectively create and maintain our memories, has more important work to do. It can’t keep up and keep hold of this childhood storyline. The past begins to vanish so that we can retain the experiences we’re growing into toward adulthood.

What will you remember, dear Finn? We’ve shared 2,920 days together full of adventures, laughter, love and longing. We’ve had so many firsts I fear each time there will be a last. 

Will you remember how we call floating seeds from a cottonwood tree fairies? 

Will you remember sitting on our dining room table bench together with your dinosaurs and stuffed puppy?

Will you remember the mimes at the Farmer’s Market and pronouncing burrito with a rolling bbbbbbbb?

Will you remember wishing for a rabbit and finding one Christmas morning?

Will you remember all of the love and care you gave your baby sister and the way in which she looks up to you as if you are the most important person in her world?

Will you remember all the dancing? The trips in the woods and the trips to the city? Splitting root beer floats and shirley temples?

Will you remember running in the ocean for the first time and running through fall corn fields?

Will you remember crawling into bed with me before 6am, desperate for warm arms around you before the sun wakes up?

Will you remember all of the art and insects and books and butterflies?

Will you remember calling me mama? 

Will you promise to try desperately to remember that each and every day, I love you with every chamber of my beating heart?

I’ve been crying about your birthday for many months now, writing this letter to you in my head while worrying about all of those moments that might not make the cut. You may not remember most of your days before today, but let this be a record that you lived each of these 2,920 days to the fullest, surrounded by family and friends that will never forget how to love you.

Happy birthday, my sweet boy. You are the fire in my soul, the flicker in my eye and the light of my life.

[faeryndipity]

Fluttershy Cosplay Coordinate

This weekend is Everfree Northwest (a My Little Pony convention) and on the first day I wore a Fluttershy cosplay! Last year I wore something based around Pinkie Pie so this year I wanted to go as my second favorite of the "mane six". It was a lot of fun!

[faeryndipity]

Shirley Temple 2017 Rabbit Print JSK

This dress is very different from my usual style but it reminds me of Fluttershy from My Little Pony and I want to do a coordinate inspired by her for a convention later this year. It is perfect because it matches her color scheme plus she has a pet bunny!