Easter Bunny and one new Angel

Happy Easter! It's off to a good, if weird start, here at Team Reed Indy. Alison got up at 6:30 this morning, eager to see if the Bunny had come. Snuggled in my warm bed, I heard a wail from the living room.

"Mommy! He didn't leave me anything," she called, her little voice breaking a bit.

"Well you know he's a tricky bunny, Al, why don't you look around a bit?" I called, thinking she could surely locate the treat basket without me.

"Or, right," she said, instantly cured and off on the hunt.

"Found it!" she called within seconds. "Wow. This is some big basket," she said.

She started squealing and I realized there was no way I was getting an extra Zs in my Easter basket. But my body refused to give up the ghost. "Why don't you bring it in here?" I called.

So we spent the next several minutes exclaiming over what the bunny had left. It wasn't long before she sped off to log-in her new Littlest Pet Shop friend, Flower the Fox. We'll go down to visit the cousins this morning, and I'm sure Flower will be going along for the trip.

I think Ali had decided to wait for Jeff to come home to try out her new Wii game -- it was her father's contribution and very well received. After her fast from candy, I thought she'd want to have her Laffy Taffy for breakfast, but she hasn't asked and I haven't offered.

It's weird to have Easter morning without Jeff here. He flew out to Maine Friday to be with Team Reed Maine. We got word Tuesday that Auntie Methyl had suffered an aneursym and has left us.

Auntie Methyl fell in love with Alison from the moment she saw her. I don't know if it was the connection of red hair or just a sweet little baby, but both she and Roger have always been very, very close Alison and of course to us. We saw them every time we visited Maine and we talked pretty often -- sometimes inspired by cards and coins Auntie and Uncle Roger would send. Sometimes just because.

Auntie introduced Alison to the world of Lynne Plourde, a wonderful children's author who lives near Methyl and Roger and who signed several of her books for Ali. If you have a little one, you need to know Lynne Plourde and her silly, invented words and crazy characters like Drew A. Blank, Maybella Jean Wishy Washy, Josephina Carolina Whatasheena the First and their teacher, Miss Shepherd.

I think Moose Of Course! was Alison's first Plourde book, and I'm fairly certain Marian was the first one to read it to her. It was an instant hit and read so many times that first visit that she'd memorized it before she needed a bath. We don't have that book here; we decided to leave it in Maine and it's one of the first things Ali grabs when we get home.

I think Methyl brought the book to Marian in a stack of others, thinking somehow that the mountain of books from Jeff, Jen and James' childhoods wasn't enough. Methyl taught kindergarten for many years and always checked on Ali's school progress and always always bought her books for Christmas and birthdays.

I didn't know Methyl very long, compared to the other Reeds, and that makes me sad. But the way she delighted in Alison amazes me even now. I love the picture of Marian and Methyl playing Chinese checkers with Ali. Every child deserves to have someone love him or her the way Marian and Methyl loved Alison. And it was returned with interest.

Ali never failed (without prompting) to put Roger and Methyl on the list of people she wanted to buy presents for at the school holiday shop. Though they are people who appreciate quality things, they were always thrilled to get the cheap little trinkets. They knew she'd picked them out special, and that dramatically increased their value.

Alison had even less time with Auntie than I did, but I'm confident that she won't lose her memory of her.

Jen and Cousin Mary have decided that Marian and Methyl are with their mother now, having tea and sour cream softies. Ali and I have taken comfort in that thought, and the knowledge that there's one more angel looking over my little red head.