Monday, March 13, 2006

The Saddest Thing I Have Ever Seen In My Entire Life.

It happened on Saturday. We warned him it might. Just before we got to the car after a short walk from The Dairy Godmother, Harry dropped his ice cream cone. Now, you may think I am being sarcastic or melodramatic when I say this, but it truly was the saddest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. I have experienced some doozies in my life, and I do not mean to belittle any of them, because they were indeed horrible, but for all of Harry's own life experiences, this was just as bad.
It was an apple cider sorbet on a baby cone. The ice cream cone was not very large, but the scoops were perched precariously atop the wafer. We told Harry it could fall off, and it was melting, and once it broke we would have to say goodbye. I thought we had prepared him. I thought I had prepared myself.
When it fell...pain, devastation, shattered---SHATTERED dreams. Gone were the happy-go-lucky "Yum num num num. Yummy yummy yummy" sounds he made as he completely wrapped himself up in the moment. It was all shattered. He struggled to put the pieces back together but it was too late. There are moments I can compare it to but I don't want to think of them.
Harry cried for about 40 minutes. Uncontrollable sobs. He finally fell asleep in the car.
To experience such extreme sadness, you would think the opposite, the happiness, must have been just as real. Does that make the loss worth it? I found myself telling Harry not to be sad that it was over, but to be happy that the ice cream (or sorbet) existed to begin with. I don't think he understood what I was saying at the time. I imagine he doesn't even expect he will ever experience something so wonderful as that ice cream cone ever again. And perhaps he won't. Perhaps the next one will have just a hint of sadness to it. Or maybe it won't.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

aaahh... Poor Little Guy.. You will just have to get him another cone! Speaking of ice cream- and I am not usually a fan of it-- but have you tried the brand called the Dreamery? They make a black raspberry that is to die for...
Kelly

Kevin McDermott said...

As has been noted by several, if this is the most major disaster to deal with, we're doing okay!

I can certainly vouch for the utter exasperation on the little man's face when the sorbet went down in the dust (literally), and call me callous, but we certainly didn't go marching back in for another... that was part of the deal. No calling 5-second rule on melted sorbet/sherbet/ice cream/whatever after it hits the sidewalk.

Personally, I wanted to get the cup & spoon, but the fun that he DID have with the cone before gravity took over, was easily as fun to watch as the aftermath...

Kimberly said...

Kelly- Harry had to deal with the loss...we've told him before that we are not replacing broken toys. That counts for ice cream, too. We decided that replaced toys was the reason for Columbine...that kids don't understand gone is gone. Luckily, he has on ly one toy that is broken and it is a car that still works but doesn't make any sounds. I know lots of kids that have a lot of broken toys, but Harry doesn't.
I don't think I have had the dreamery...I have had rice dreamery...is it the same?
Kevin - yes, if this is Harry's biggest obstacle, we are in great shape! Not denying that by any stretch! We are very fortunate.
RE: 5 second rule...Harry can eat everything else off of teh ground. That is fine! ACtually, when Bailey's outside dog bowl was new, we even let him drink from that!
As fro cones, he has had them before while seated and it worked rather well. The cone was worth it, and I think he has since recovered.