Her favorite color is orange, but she’s also fond of purple.
Her eyelashes are longer than my hair. (If you tried to count them, you would be whispering numbers for days.)
We have a room full of books in our basement, and she adores announcing that the library is open. She’s the librarian, of course, and she takes this job very seriously. All you have to do is tell her the genre for which you’re hankering, and she’ll take her time finding the perfect book for you. (I typically choose Art, because I want see what she’ll choose for me. Sometimes it’s Degas because she likes the dancers. Sometimes it’s The Art Book because it weighs seven pounds.) She’ll often close the library without warning by hanging a sign that says, “The library is shut down FOREVER.”
She can play Linus and Lucy on the piano.
She knows all of the words to the Newsies soundtrack, and when she sings Seize the Day, I sometimes feel my lip quivering and my heart can barely take it.
She’s my biggest fan and I’m her biggest fan.
We both love Doritos.
She likes to keep a small notebook with her because she loves to write stories. (Fun Fact: She was first published at the age of five.) ((If you know me at all, you know how perfect it is that she packs a tiny notebook.))
Eight years ago this morning, she winced as she was pulled from a surgical incision made through my abdomen and uterus. (C-sections are often done when they’re not medically necessary, often putting the mother and infant at risk. Sometimes you have to throw stuff like this into a blog entry because you know a few people are thinking it, and you want to show them that you get it. You totally get it. Also, I tend to post the following photo every year on this day, so now it’s YOUR turn to wince!)
Harper Rose was named for both Harper Lee (whose name was actually Nelle Harper Lee) and my grandmother Virginia Rose (whose name was actually Rose Virginia).
The happiest of birthdays to Ms. Harper Lee, who turned 87 today. (Also, a special shout out to my grandma, who ate an orange each and every night after she peeled it with a little plastic stick.) To Harper Rose? May your eighth birthday be filled with cookie cake and friends and books and cinnamon rolls and Newsies and dog kisses and sunshine. You Are Loved.
EDITED TO ADD: Because more than one person mentioned it, here is the infamous rattlesnake video.
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