So many memories of a shining light of a person. When she babysat us, she would insist we built forts and play right with us as we crawled around under blankets and propped up couch cushions.

In our play hospital, she made us “medicine” of milk + sprinkles (which melted and ran with color in the milk — the closest thing we got to candy most of the time as kids).
Taking us out to the Bon Marche to buy one outfit for school when we didn’t usually get brand new clothes — we could pick anything we wanted — I got *two* t-shirts of different colors that I could layer and then roll up the sleeves to look very cool, I thought.
And I also remember the softness of the seats in that land boat car and how cool the blue flames were. And then reconnecting with her after a long time and feeling just as loved and seen and happy to have had her in my life.