Uncle Jimmy to the Rescue

Last Friday was another hard day for Jodi. Elise had her first kindergarten presentation and it was the first school event Jodi had to attend without Dennis. He loved watching his girls perform at school. I can remember him boasting so many times about all the cute and funny things they would say or do. He was always so proud of his girls.
I can’t tell you how many times over the past two years he told me how important it was to him that someone be there to cheer them on whether it be a school function, gymnastics, a recital, or sporting event. He knew Jodi would always be there but I know he felt it wasn’t fair to them that he would be missing, so we somehow needed to make up for that. I was so happy that I was able to be there and when I called Uncle Jimmy to mention it to him, he didn’t even let me finish what I was saying. He quickly asked “What time and where? I will be there."
When I arrived to Elise’s classroom, all the children looked so adorable with their Indian hats on. Jimmy had Alana on his lap (her teacher let her out of class to cheer Elise on-- Thanks Ms. Hammond), Jodi was there with Mia, and let me tell you there was not a dry eye in our cheering section. Elise spotted me and was waving like crazy. I quickly took my seat and started crying myself. I was overwhelmed with sadness at first. This was so unfair. I looked around and spotted many Dads and I couldn’t help but wonder if Elise noticed them too. I looked at my sister and saw her putting on the bravest face she could. She was a rock. Strong and beautiful sitting there as she smiled at Elise.
Jimmy was so great. He tickled and played with Alana making her laugh. He made funny faces at Elise when she would glance over at us, making her smile and giggle. I was the obnoxious aunt with the camera taking as many pictures as possible and of course my batteries died! Elise got up and performed all her parts perfectly. She said she was thankful for her grandmother who takes her to New Hampshire (that’s you Mom), because she gets to play school there with her sister Alana! She said her talent was that she rides her bike well-- thanks to Dennis. He spent a lot of time teaching Alana and Elise to ride their bikes over the summer. He would have loved that she said that. The class performed some really adorable songs and played music with sticks. Elise pretended to be shy and wouldn’t look at us. While she was up in front of the class and the teacher was talking she kept waving to Mia who was yelling “Disi Disi” (baby talk for Elise) and at one point she starting telling the kids next to her to wave to her sister Mia too-- totally disregarding the school show. We all started laughing. A true Rich through and through- it’s all about family! When it was finished she came over and hugged and kissed us. She was happy and well represented, and that was what would have mattered most to Dennis. I hope we made him smile. I know if he was here he would be singing the “Turkey from Albuquerque” song with Elise for at least a month! He liked the songs more than the
girls did half the time!
Jane