Madeline loved beautiful things. She always noticed something bright-colored, pretty or sparkly. I never had to worry about missing anything when she was around, because she would see everything worth seeing.

She had this amazing way of getting your attention, and then she’d make SURE you saw what she was seeing. I took this silly video of her watching the cartoon “Mighty B” and it illustrates it perfectly. She’d look at you, look at the object, look at you, look at the object…and have a HUGE Maddie-Grin on her face. She’d then crawl over to you and climb into your lap, eager to fully share in the awesome new thing she’d just discovered.

She really did love to share. I have never seen a child so willingly offer her toys or bottle or mysterious piece of lint to anyone that came near her.

IMG_8694-1

I used to hope she’d stay generous if she ever got a little brother or sister.

Way back when we were creating Maddie’s nursery, we spent a lot of time discussing the walls. We wanted a feminine color, but also something strong. When we went to the paint store Mike saw the precise shade of purple and it was settled. Purple suited her.

When I was pregnant Mike was still teaching eleventh grade English. One of the books his students studied was The Color Purple. I didn’t read it in high school, so I would occasionally pick it up when I saw his copy laying around. I came across this quote,

“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.”

and it stuck with me.

Now I see purple everywhere. Did I never notice it before? Did I walk right by it? Or is it now popping up just when I need reminders of my Madeline?

Maddie loved bright-colored, pretty and sparkly purple things. And now, she is surrounded by something beautiful, forever.
purple speckles