An Evening with my Niece
Posted by Stace.......
It was bedtime, Kevin and I were babysitting our niecelet, Hannah. She was loaded with black raspberry ice cream and mashed potatoes, and was going down slowly. We had already read the two books Aunt Stace had committed to. And Aunt Stace has very firm boundaries.
Then she asked for a story about Rapunzel, as she is very much into princessi right now. I felt a twinge - from deep down - what is that, I wondered. Again she asked for a Rapunzel story - but "without the scarwy parts" - and I thought, why, I remember nothing "scarwy" about Rapunzel, my dear friend ------- and in no time it flooded back to me, and nearly brought a tear to my eye. This is how the story goes:
Rapunzel and Aunt Stace were dear friends many years ago as children. I knew her and her family quite well, and we used to play together daily. In fact, that whole "hair ladder" thing originated from us climbing trees together. She was an avid climber, that Rapunzel, and I, not being as swift in the trees as she, would be at the base of the tree, contemplating my route, when down her hair would come and I would just grab ahold. She was a strong girl, with beautiful long hair, and a good friend.
(My niecelet is sensitive about "scarwy" stuff - and I knew I would have to appropriately address that whole "locked away" part of the story - which quite frankly, got blown way out of proportion in the fairy tale world - so I decided to just explain what really happened, even if it isn't very exciting...) The reality is that in fact, Rapunzel did get locked in the top of her castle house, next to mine in Cleveland, Ohio, but it was completely by accident. Her younger brother Ralph, who had ADHD, was playing hide and seek with her when he forgot about the game and became easily distracted by something else. So, one thing led to another as things often do with a big family living in a castle, and the door was locked with her on the inside. (!) Oh No! Well, as luck would have it, she was within the part of the castle that served as a studio apartment (it is a castle after all, and they are a large family, so they might have chosen at any time to take on a college boarder, or nannie...), so she was well equipped with a refrigerator and bed, thankfully.
"And a bathroom?" inquired Hannah rightly. I thought that was very thoughtful of her. She also took this opportunity to inform me that in fact, dancers use studios - this was amazingly insightful foreshadowing on her behalf, I thought.
Well, luckily, she wasn't "locked" long, and once her mother discovered that she had been missing for a few days, she made Ralph apologize and unlockd the door. But by then Rapunzel, my dear friend, had decided she liked her new peaceful spot and started to spend more and more time there on her own where she would read and paint and play (and quite frankly, between you and me, if it took her family a few days to notice her absence - she was better off up there). And, I would often join her. It was pretty cool.
Then one day a nice looking boy just happened to ride his horse up to her seeing her way up in the window. They talked, his name was Charles, and he was nice. Eventually Charles started coming around more often as they built a friendship, then one day he came around looking quite dashing. Well, I happened to be in the back yard at the time, and I heard him ask her to court him. Rapunzel, being quite practical, informed him that quite frankly, she had an awful lot on her plate and really didn't have time for courting, but would enjoy his continued friendship. So, she and Chuck became good buddies. For many years after that, Rapunzel, Chuck and I would hang out together up in her apartment, and everytime we would go over we just shimmied right up her silky, golden ladder.
"Did they get married?" Hannah asked all giggly. But they did not, to my knowledge, and quite frankly, I expect I would know. Rapunzel is now a dancer with the Cleveland Ballet, and Chuck, being a good and loyal friend, supports her by going to see her perform every Saturday night.
Now, I think it's time for bed. Goodnight.
It was bedtime, Kevin and I were babysitting our niecelet, Hannah. She was loaded with black raspberry ice cream and mashed potatoes, and was going down slowly. We had already read the two books Aunt Stace had committed to. And Aunt Stace has very firm boundaries.
Then she asked for a story about Rapunzel, as she is very much into princessi right now. I felt a twinge - from deep down - what is that, I wondered. Again she asked for a Rapunzel story - but "without the scarwy parts" - and I thought, why, I remember nothing "scarwy" about Rapunzel, my dear friend ------- and in no time it flooded back to me, and nearly brought a tear to my eye. This is how the story goes:
Rapunzel and Aunt Stace were dear friends many years ago as children. I knew her and her family quite well, and we used to play together daily. In fact, that whole "hair ladder" thing originated from us climbing trees together. She was an avid climber, that Rapunzel, and I, not being as swift in the trees as she, would be at the base of the tree, contemplating my route, when down her hair would come and I would just grab ahold. She was a strong girl, with beautiful long hair, and a good friend.
(My niecelet is sensitive about "scarwy" stuff - and I knew I would have to appropriately address that whole "locked away" part of the story - which quite frankly, got blown way out of proportion in the fairy tale world - so I decided to just explain what really happened, even if it isn't very exciting...) The reality is that in fact, Rapunzel did get locked in the top of her castle house, next to mine in Cleveland, Ohio, but it was completely by accident. Her younger brother Ralph, who had ADHD, was playing hide and seek with her when he forgot about the game and became easily distracted by something else. So, one thing led to another as things often do with a big family living in a castle, and the door was locked with her on the inside. (!) Oh No! Well, as luck would have it, she was within the part of the castle that served as a studio apartment (it is a castle after all, and they are a large family, so they might have chosen at any time to take on a college boarder, or nannie...), so she was well equipped with a refrigerator and bed, thankfully.
"And a bathroom?" inquired Hannah rightly. I thought that was very thoughtful of her. She also took this opportunity to inform me that in fact, dancers use studios - this was amazingly insightful foreshadowing on her behalf, I thought.
Well, luckily, she wasn't "locked" long, and once her mother discovered that she had been missing for a few days, she made Ralph apologize and unlockd the door. But by then Rapunzel, my dear friend, had decided she liked her new peaceful spot and started to spend more and more time there on her own where she would read and paint and play (and quite frankly, between you and me, if it took her family a few days to notice her absence - she was better off up there). And, I would often join her. It was pretty cool.
Then one day a nice looking boy just happened to ride his horse up to her seeing her way up in the window. They talked, his name was Charles, and he was nice. Eventually Charles started coming around more often as they built a friendship, then one day he came around looking quite dashing. Well, I happened to be in the back yard at the time, and I heard him ask her to court him. Rapunzel, being quite practical, informed him that quite frankly, she had an awful lot on her plate and really didn't have time for courting, but would enjoy his continued friendship. So, she and Chuck became good buddies. For many years after that, Rapunzel, Chuck and I would hang out together up in her apartment, and everytime we would go over we just shimmied right up her silky, golden ladder.
"Did they get married?" Hannah asked all giggly. But they did not, to my knowledge, and quite frankly, I expect I would know. Rapunzel is now a dancer with the Cleveland Ballet, and Chuck, being a good and loyal friend, supports her by going to see her perform every Saturday night.
Now, I think it's time for bed. Goodnight.
posted by Kevin and Stace @ 8:42 PM
2 Comments:
At 12:01 AM,
Anonymous said…
awww they should have gotten married but i guess theres still hope...now its way past my bedtime i should go to sleep :)
At 5:58 PM,
Anonymous said…
Love that Charles. Such support he offers--so constant. Your friend, Rapunzel had to put Hannah to sleep--even after ALLLLLLL that icecream. And we know Uncle Kevin ate some right along with her. Good story, Stace. We often wondered where you were hiding during those years--days at a time!
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