Worlds Churning

November 13, 2025 — 9:08pm

Dear Reese,

During bathtime, we mimic each other's sounds, and you give me such a smile. Sometimes I look at you and see that you’re older. Sometimes your expressions strike me in just the way I need to remember that you’ve got a whole world churning behind your eyes.

My voice is still rough, and I’ve been having coughing fits that you are achingly patient about, but I sing you lullabies anyway. Ten minutes after you’re down tonight, you cry, and I go back in your room to sing you “Seven Daffodils” and rock you for a minute. Someday you’ll probably tell me to stop the singing. I’m not very good, but I like to think that after seventeen months, these shared lullabies have become a language of their own for us.

When the lyrics say “and kiss you”, I kiss your head in the low light and lay you back down.

Hopefully, my occasional coughs don’t wake you the rest of the night.

Love,

Mama