A little Anne Hardison

"The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. May the name of the Lord be praised."

The Lord took mom home when Will was three months old. Since then, as I've watched Will's personality develop, I like to think that the Lord left a little bit of Anne Hardison on this earth when He sent little Will down here. I don't mean the first three colicky months. His disposition then was the opposite of mom's. But when he hit four months, I was so thankful to realize that the times of endless crying and unhappiness were the opposite of his real personality, too.

Our favorite nursery worker at church described Will as "busy." I think that's apt. He is into everything. He never stops moving. Even in his sleep, when I look at the monitor, his hands are often moving, even when his body looks asleep. He loves a crowd. I used to worry when we had something planned for the afternoon and he wouldn't nap beforehand. But I've learned not to worry about that. Sleepy or not, Will rises to the occasion when other people are involved. He babbles and laughs and is content as long as there is action going on around him. Another apt word for Will is curious. I've heard Jan refer to Ryan this way, too, when he was a baby. His curiosity explains the endless movement. His eyes notice something, and he has to go explore it.

I love his personality, and it reminds me of  mom. When she was well, she loved a party, too. And she was often the life of the parties she went to. She was so funny. So many people have commented about the wonderful stories Christie shared at mom's memorial service: about putting rocks in the neighbor's bra while it hung on the clothesline to dry and moving an oriental floor rug from one room to the other in our house, even though on top of it stood furniture and a live Christmas tree. But it had to be done late one night before dad got home from a business trip. She was sure he wouldn't even notice.

I think she was too good, too funny, too kind, and too bright for the Lord to take her away completely. I like to think that's why He fashioned Will the way He did, with a little bit of Anne Hardison in him.