We have rattlesnakes in this area, and more specifically, in our neighborhood. We live in a rather new development with parts that still haven't been built up yet. Plus, our neighborhood is backed up to a creek, so they happily welcome themselves into backyards that outline our development. Luckily, we are in the middle so we have yet to see one, but the threat is still there. We have taught Sam about them and have reminded him that he has to be very careful when he's outside. He knows that if he hears one or sees one, he must come get us immediately. He also knows what happens if you get bit. He'll remind us all the time that if you get bit, you will need an ambulance and will have to go to the hospital. Whenever we walk to the pool, we pass areas that aren't developed yet and Sam will tell us that there are rattlesnakes down there and that we have to be careful -- I'm not sure if we've traumatized him by this discussion or not, but I'm at least glad he's aware and cautious.
Anyways. So, I saw on our neighborhood app that a guy had a rattlesnake hiding under his trashcan a few streets down and read it aloud to James. I assume that's where that aspect came into play tonight. It wasn't long after that, Samuel came to me and started talking about his sister, Olivia. He said he wants her to come and play with him and that he wants to show her his new choo-choos. Sweet boy! I sadly reminded him that she passed away (he knows this) and that unfortunately, she can't. He then said in a "Oh, I remember!" manner, "Oh, yeah…a rattlesnake bit my sister and she died…" I reminded him that no, a rattlesnake never bit her. He was very adamant though and continued with, "Yes! The rattlesnake bit my Obie and my sister and they died." Oh, Sam...James jumped in and reminded him that she passed away while she was in mommy's tummy and that no one in our family got bit by a rattlesnake. He then responded with, "Ohhhh, yeahhhhh. A rattlesnake died in my tummy 5 times." Ha. What?! We gave him a perplexed look. The kid loves the number 5. He asks for "5 milks" when we serve him milk at a meal. He wants things in 5's. So I suppose it would only make sense that the evil rattlesnake died 5 times. We then corrected him, he laughed and then with an embarrassed look on his face said, "Yeah, the rattlesnake died in your tummy and now my sister can come over and play with my choo-choos!" You can only imagine where the conversation went from there. Sam got himself rather worked up with telling us this tall tale as it got more and more elaborate. At times we had to hold back the laughter, but also felt serious heartbreak as we watched how much he wanted his sister to be here with him. The poor kid. One day, you'll meet her…one day...
That was just one of many goofy conversations we've had lately with Samuel. I love that his sister comes up a lot (by his doing), but it's so so sad to hear. While we were at Target the other day (of course!), he walked past the toys and said he wanted to get his sister a little toy so she can have something of her own. I think the next time we go home, we'll have to let him pick something out to put at her grave. Sweet Sam...
These conversations are so brutiful. We are in WI now and while flying, Finn goes, "are we flying over the earth?" And I said yes, and he goes, "we are flying over the earth Cale died on." .... ummm, ok.
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