Happily Ever After

 

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ~1 Corinthians 13:11

Pictured above is a Christmas tin rescued from my mother's attic.  Of course, the tin isn't valuable in and of itself; it's what's inside that is priceless.

Allow me to introduce your to the "Little Animals," as my brother, Bill, and I call them many years ago.  I can't begin to describe the countless hours we spend playing with these when rain or cold kept us indoors, except to say they always brought joy to our hearts.  The adventures upon which these beloved toys embark reflect our creativity, our love for a good story, and keep our imaginations working in overdrive.  

My only regret?  That I never went up to the attic when granddaughter, Virginia was younger so I could share the magical, enchanting world of the Little Animals with her.

I believe wholeheartedly that the games Bill and I play as children plant the seed of what would later become the idea for my book series:  The Glade Series and Adventures in The Glade.

Here is Hootie, the prototype for the character of Reverend in my novels.

He is given to me as a birthday gift from my grandmother when I'm probably two or three.  Dearly loved, and played with more than the other animals, Hootie truly shows his age, not unlike some of us.  He is the undisputed patriarch of this motley clan, always a reliable fountain of wisdom and advice when other animals needed it.

And there isn't a one of the Little Animals who don't need Hootie's sage stability in their lives, especially the Gang of Five.

Mischief seems to be something they can't help but cause, not in a malicious way, but misadventures pursue them like the plague.  Note that three of these rascals, the squirrel, the fox and the raccoon, also appear with frequency in my books:  Racer, Wily and Cleverhands.

While the latter animals are the permanent children in this rag-tag family, others range in age in our minds as teens, young adults, older adults, and father/mother figures.  Bill and I create a small-town community where everyone looks out for one another, and helps whenever they can.  What an idyllic world we see through our innocent and immature eyes!

Yes, I'm convinced that the role playing in which we engage at a tender age helps us to make sense of and bring order to the unpredictable world over which we have no control.  The adventures of our Little Animals gives order to chaos.  There are no unhappy endings, only happily ever after ones.

As Christians, we know we'll encounter times of trouble and trials, sadness and disappointments on this imperfect earth.  But these are only temporal, just as the fixes the Little Animals find themselves mired in from time to time.

Because we know the rest of the story.

And it ends happily ever after.

Amen!