Keep Her

Savannah Paige Little of New Pleasant Farm Field or, New Berlin-Pleasant Plains-Farmingdale-Springfield,
Lover of softball, basketball, texting, talking, eating, reading, and living…
Is in need of defense…
Let Youthful Innocence guard her from the monsoons that will surely spawn from her eyes on cloudy days, about school and about boys, and keep her from hangovers-at least until she arrives at college- on those cool clear nights in the crisp autumn air, and heartbreak, which strikes whatever the season.
I can only pray that Modern Science will protect her from asthma attacks, a fifth concussion, accidents involving penicillin resulting in an outbreak of hives, and asphyxiation.
That is assuming that Mental Clarity and Focus will resonate their siren songs and defend her as she performs her pitcher-perfect duties. May MCF keep her from tripping over cracks in the sidewok- which she always misses because she’s distracted by their weeds; pop flies & line drives-hit just the wrong way and straight back to her, sure to cause Modern Science to intervene
Lend her focus to the task at hand and in her hand and when she drives please let her think of nothing else.
The 06 Sonata would not look good stuck between the maple and the oak;
Nor would the Santa Fe take kindly to an attack by the locusts or being covered in ash.
And neither would enjoy swimming the Sangamon or sailing the seas of Lake Springfield (Modern Science be wary here- leptospirosis is lurking in the water)
And finally, Good Judgment please keep her from the earth shattering disappointment of finding out who you’re friends aren’t.

Savannah Paige Little, sister of mine, daughter of Wendy, pitcher for the Cardinals, student of the Those Who Can Teach, Those Who Can’t Teach, Those Who Teach Gym, and keeper of the bunny
Is a lover of mashed potatoes and cake
Capable of indignance even with a grape stuck in her nares.
The bunny is a black and white mix, named Oreo by the ten year old innocent, 5 years ago, when she would collect clover (trifolium) and stick it through the squares of his cage as he watched the other bunnies, the cotton tailed deer bound by, and he munched on the unwanted dandelion or occasional violet.

And while this may seem like so many years ago, eras ago, millennia ago, back to the days of the tapir and saber-toothed cat-
which Savannah’s sisters cat thinks he is- it was not so long ago.
The days passed by so quickly nostalgia has not even noticed.

So please, keep Savannah
Paige
Little- in weight but not in heart, in experience but not in spirit
Keep her safe.