Her eyes are crossed.
Her red bathing suit top is showing some wear.
Her grass skirt's been lifted so many times she may as not be wearing anything.
But she's my friend and I love her.
We've spent lots of time alone with me doing most of the talking.
She listens and never stops smiling.
Our friend Art made her face and it's hard to walk the dogs without missing him ... the dogs sure do, tugging and pulling ... wanting the treats he always gave as we pass his house ... and I miss the way he called Sarah "Mrs. Blue Eyes" ... and the way we gave each other shit about College Football ... he was a good friend and her face reminds me of him on a daily basis.
Her coconut bra used to belong to my wife but Sarah gave it to her.
Our girls decide it needs to be red so we paint it and hang it back up and now I can't look at it without being reminded of the joys little girls bring to a tired life.
Sarah bought her dress and has extras downstairs but I like her worn and weathered look so we haven't changed her clothes yet. We will but ... she's given us a lot ... and looks tired ... so I'm respecting her feelings.
When Sarah and Maddie leave every morning ... or when Laurel and Cass sleep in on the weekends ... Goddess and I meander outside on the Beloved Back Deck and wish her a good morning.
She always smiles.
Sometimes she winks.
I love her dearly and she's as much a part of our family as Winston, The Little Gay Dog ... the choir of cicada that sing morning and night ... the wind chimes the girls hung when we became a home and not a house ... the salt hanging in the air and on my skin ... the waves kissing the shore in the distance.
"Every home needs 'Alters of Love'", my friend Dan Sheehan once explained, "the more the better."
Yep.
She's certainly part of ours.
