Rock On

Hannah's second birthday

It was a lifetime ago, or so it seems. Eight years later, after the rocking horse was gifted to Hannah on her second birthday by Fillis and John, we're ready to let it move on to more cousins of Marc's.

The horse has been well-loved, though it never got a name. It still looks brand new too. It joined our family when we still lived in our condo in Brookline, and seeing it among the toys in Hannah's old room practically breaks my heart. She had the coolest nursery. A circular room at the corner of the building, we painted it three colors, a green grass below the window ledge, a blue sky, a purple accent wall. We painted a small dresser white and each of its drawers are painted one of the colors. The wood was cheap and is buckled now, but the dresser still sits in Hannah's room. She probably doesn't recognize it for what it is, but I remember. Max rode the horse in every room in this house over the years. He often preferred to drag it into my bedroom, which gave him more room to rock as the floors weren't littered with other toys and blocks. He's been wanting to get rid of it for a while now, but when the day came, there were a few tears.

I get sentimental about stuff. I wrote an ode to a couch, after all. But this time, I'm ready to see the horse go on to another branch of the family. Rock on, little buddy.