Sunday, April 29, 2007

My whimsy girl is playing soccer.

Maya is named for my Nana (her middle name is Kathleen). I've written about Nana in this blog before. The condensed version is that she was a kind, caring, giggling, book-loving, light-hearted, DeedleDee-singing, intelligent, open-minded Irish mother to many ... many more than just her own seven children ... and their spouses--current or otherwise. An amazing woman. With a whimsical edge.

My cousin, Heather--who is also named for Nana (her middle name is Kathleen, too)--has many Nana traits. Short version: she's intelligent, kind, compassionate, quick to laugh, open-minded and whimsical. And, if I'm not mistaken, also really enjoys books and reading. Growing up, Heather was always happy-go-lucky!

For a while, I found it almost alarming how much Maya is like Nana (and Heather). She's very sweet, kind, smart and giggly. She loves books and reading. She sings to herself all the time. She's a day-dreamy, imaginative girl. A light-hearted, whimsical soul. I'm now very accustomed to her Nana-esque ways. It's actually quite comforting. (To those who knew Nana, you will find it interesting to know that Maya learned "Swing Swong" when she was about 18 months old and would sing it every time I would push her in a swing ... I felt Nana was with me, watching over her newest namesake.)

Well, now little Miss Maya is playing soccer. Her first game was Saturday. It went exactly as I thought it would. She was skipping around the field, sometimes in the direction of the ball and action, sometimes not. She did actually kick the ball a few times. But more often, she was talking with other kids on the field--giggling and smiley. At one point in the middle of the game, she came running off the field so she could give her Granny a hug and kiss. Granny and I laughed the entire time we were watching her "play" soccer. Maya had "lots and lots of fun" out there playing her light-hearted version of the game.

It was precisely what I had expected from my little Maya Kathleen. :)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

jenny- that sounds just like me playing sports when i was little!! :)
and thank you for your kind words and comparing me with our wonderful nana. like maya, i was a little bookworm as a girl---still am, in fact.
as soon as school is finished i'm playing on re-reading harry potter 1-6 before book 7 comes out, and i can't wait!
i hope maya continues to play by her own sweeter version of rules in sports and in life. there's enough hardness in our world, we need more nana-namesake-types!
loveyou, heather kathleen