My First Eclipse Thoughts

Recently, my mother died (Apr 11, 2008). That was a very bad experience for me, even at age 44, because it was way too early to lose her. But one thing that absolutely floored me has come out of this otherwise negative experience. In going through everything she'd kept (which was, like, everything you could imagine from my brother's and my youth), I found this:

When I saw this, I absolutely remembered after all these years (I'm 44 as I write this), that this was a picture that had entranced me, from a child's encyclopedia my parents had bought for me. I remembered tracing this picture, and even writing the letter. How weird is that, that one day I'd turn out to be a complete eclipse junkie, when at age five I'd thought to do this? It is a feeling of déjà vu that will stay with me the rest of my life. I'm very glad my mom had thought to keep this simple piece of paper....

© 2008 Dan McGlaun