Charlotte's Web

(My poor kids. Whenever they make a special project for school, I take a picture of them in the front yard before they leave for school. The problem is that our house faces eastish, so the sun is blaring in their eyes. I feel bad, but I gotta get the shot.)

Every month, Bev has to do a book report. For January, they had to make a diorama based on one of the books they had read. She chose to read Charlotte's Web. So, thanks to our big stack of shoeboxes in the basement, a tub of farm animals from the toy room and a spider from the halloween box, she was set for her diorama.

She had been reading the book while she was off track, and I just happened to go to tuck her in bed as she was reading the last few pages. I asked her to read it out loud. Oh, man, how I love that book. I cried as she read about Wilbur missing Charlotte and Charlotte's babies being hatched.

"Wilbur loved Charlotte. Although he loved her children and grandchildren dearly, none of the new spiders ever quite took her place in his heart. She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both."

So, as I was crying, Jessi as she always does when I cry, ran to the bathroom for some tissue. She came back and dabbed my tears. She hugged me and said, "Don't cry Mama, it's just pretend." Then we talked about spiders and pigs. Then Bev asked me not to buy pork anymore.