the greatest show on earth
years ago, i went to the circus for the first time. i was already too old for it, having roamed the earth for nearly 18 years. but it was a date, a real, honest-to-goodness date, without parental-unit supervision, so i went. i believe it was the shriner’s circus. i don’t remember much about it, other than it was in a real tent, i had cotton-candy, i got a silver dollar as change for something i bought, and that elephant $hit stinks. royally.
we took the two youngest nieces to the circus tonight. not the shriner’s, but the greatest show on earth, ringling brothers and barnum & bailey. the older of the two is eleven going on thirty; far too serious for her age. but once or twice i spied a smile on her face. of course, she had to know how much it cost to go, why it costs money to park, why things are so expensive, and so forth. but i know, at the end of the night, she truly enjoyed herself.
the little one, however, is four. she is exuberant, endlessly happy, limitless in the love she gives, constantly speaking… in short, a not-so-typical-for-this-generation four-year-old. throughout the entire performance, she vacillated between smiling, laughing and having a look of absolute awe. punctuated by the ever-constant question, “now what are they doing?” made me want to search her over for an off button. when i wasn’t wanting to squeeze her in two with a hug.
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