Mulan – i’ll make a man out of you
Today Ava listened to the Disney CD with this song. It was one of Ethan’s favorites. He’d wave his arms around wildly, jump and make karate or sword fighter moves, and then at the top of his lungs sing, “With all the force of a great typhoon…mysterious as the dark side of the moon!”
He misunderstood the lyric “you’re the saddest bunch I’ve ever met.” He insisted on saying “you’re the saddest butt I’ve ever met.” I corrected him over and over again, and pretty soon it was just a joke to see how many times he could say butt.
So, of course, Ava wanted to hear this song. We sat in the driveway. She chatted on and on about the song, while I cried and nodded grateful for my sunglasses so she wouldn’t be upset because I was upset.
She’s been talking so much about Ethan the past couple weeks. She must have noticed our sadness. I think she’s been a little sad too. One day she wanted to act out her fourth birthday as it should have been, not what it was.
“Mommy we’re going to have water balloons right?”
“Yes.”
“And I want a pinata, a parrot. Ethan can have a rocket.”
“Absolutely.”
“We’ll invite our friends from school.”
“Sounds good.”
“We’ll try to hit the pinata. OK? You’ll put candy in it? Right? Like Skippy John Jones. Ethan liked Skippy John Jones.”
Ava has another birthday coming up. She’ll be five. I’ve already thought about how strange it will be when she turns six, and then seven…when she outlives her brother — the boy who never became a man.
