imagination

Imagination is a powerful (and funny) thing.

Julianna has a ridiculous amount of toys. Sometimes, though, she needs nothing other than imagination and attitude.

And a few weeks ago, Julianna dictated a series of letters between her and Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes.) She imagined that they were forced into being pen pals with each other. Oh, the drama.

Dear Julianna,

I don’t like you right now. I’m going to find a way out of this, and then, watch out!

Signed, Calvin

Dear Calvin,

You are a dummy and you need to listen better. And you should not bother us.

Signed, Julianna

Dear Julianna,

You’d better watch out and be nice to me, or I will make a trap and trap you.

Signed, Calvin

Calvin,

I’m trying to do this for your own good. You need to listen to me! I don’t care what you say.

Signed, Julianna

Julianna,

Just wait. I’m going to capture you!

Signed, Calvin

Calvin,

I’m going to battle with you, and I will win.

Signed, Julianna

Julianna,

I will win because I’m a boy.

Calvin

Calvin,

I will win because I’m a princess. AND Hobbes is on my side! And my parents. So watch out, mister!

Signed, Julianna

“I’m going to win because I’m a princess.”

Julianna,

Watch out, because I have secret weapons.

Calvin

Calvin,

I have pixie dust.

Julianna

Julianna,

I don’t believe that you have pixie dust, so I’m going to win.

Calvin

Calvin,

I’m going to ask my fairies to help, and they have berries to throw at you – so watch out!

Julianna

And the other night, J told us that she needed to “take some phone calls.” The phone was her iPad holder.

Note:

the “club” is a girl’s club, but boys can join as long as they follow J’s rules.
Italics are my comments and clarification
To get the full experience, read aloud and feel disbelief with the “what’s?” and outrage with the “WHAT’s”?

She starts off talking to her nurse, “N”, who called in sick that day.

Julianna: N? Are you sick? You can come over here with a mask and gloves…What? You want to talk to me forever? I can’t do that! Why don’t you come here for a slumber party and join the club. WHAT? You want to stay home and watch TV? Oh…you really want to come but at the same time, you want to watch TV at home. If only there’s a potion (to make this possible). You could just come here for a visit with the club. Uh, wait a minute. You don’t have the right tools for the potion? I thought you had everything. You said that. So you lied to me. WHAT? The wizard of Oz does? (has the ability to make the potion) I thought you said you did. You lied to me….

Uh, I have another call at the moment.

(not sure who she is talking to next, but it’s someone who evidently appreciates all that the club offers. I love her vision of a sleepover…)

Hello? You don’t want to watch TV and stay home? You want to have a sleepover with the club? You want to read stories? You want to have pie? You want to have everything we do in sleepovers? You want to have some fun? Pillow fights? Marshmallows? Oh yeah, let’s do that! We’ll put glitter all over ourselves…YAY! Let’s do that. Huh? I have another call at the moment.

Hello? What? You’re a unicorn pony. You want to come to my house so I can adopt you? Sure! Let’s do that. I’m gonna adopt you unicorn. Uh. Bye. I’ve got another call right now. WHAT?

Wait a minute – you’re a bad horse! I should not adopt you.

(I wish I knew what made her realize the unicorn pony was a “bad horse.” )

Hello? Oh man, I can’t believe this. Elsa and Anna are talking to me on the phone. Ohmygosh, I can’t believe it. We should totally have a sleepover some time. Oh, you want to? Both of you?! Sure, you’re invited.

M: J, it’s time to go to bed.

J: Mom (exasperated). I have 100 phone calls tonight.

J and her Lego zoo.

Like most kids, Julianna loves surprises. She always closes her eyes and prepares for sheer joy. If the surprise is an old friend (in her case, this usually means an adult who works in the medical field) she does a happy dance (head movements only, but there’s no doubt she’s happy) and draws them into her latest story. It’s like no time has passed since their last visit. If it’s a new toy, her eyes light up and she says “I love it!”

Like many adults, I don’t like surprises. I plan so that I’m never caught off guard. Life is safer this way, less messy and more efficient. Besides, hopeful anticipation can backfire. Disappointment hurts – badly.

Control is an illusion, though, and even the most skillful planners get surprised sometimes.

When I came home on Friday and stepped into Julianna’s room, something was different. Julianna was saying something to me, but I couldn’t focus on her words. Something had changed, and it was throwing me off.

In an instant, it came to me. Her voice was loud — booming by her standards. And she was trying to tell me that she had a “different kind of chicken pox.”

The chicken pox was acquired with a pink marker – J’s idea for April Fool’s. If you look closely at the picture, you can see why J’s voice was so loud: she’s wearing a microphone.

As you may know, J’s choice changed a few weeks ago. For no reason other than CMT from hell, it got soft and weak. It’s led to more quiet moments, and that feels strange

It’s also made me sad. J’s voice is truly her instrument. With it, we have access to her lovely mind and fantastic imagination. Every day, she says something that startles me: how can she know that? And she is so funny.

She communicates without words, of course, but I love her words — and she loves being understood perfectly.

The microphone was Grandma’s idea, and it has worked brilliantly. She can play longer, and with even more spirit. It’s led to more stories, more silliness, more happiness. Who knew that a $30 microphone would provide so much joy?

The microphone also comes with a headset. It doesn’t work as well, but J thinks it “looks cool.”

For the surprise-adverse, life can be scary. Sometimes you lower your expectations – drastically – and tell yourself that it will protect you from disappointment. It works to some extent, but anesthesia is not selective: if you numb yourself from pain, it’s hard to experience joy.

And so we go back our girl J. Life for her has not been predictable, kind or easy, and there have been plenty of nasty surprises and loss. She’s not bitter, though, and she’s not beaten. She takes delight – easily, and often. She is a surprise. If we view things through her eyes, everything looks a little brighter. Unpredictable, still…but not so scary.

P.S.

The last pages of Julianna’s Adventures depicts J’s love of surprises and lack of fear. It is difficult to keep up with her imagination sometimes, and, to be honest, I struggled with this story a bit. How could I write it so that people would understand? This is how we ended it:

In the last scene, a blue unicorn leads us…somewhere.

Julianna is not afraid, of course: Just kidding…It’s just the next adventure!

On the last page, J sits in the boat, ready and unafraid. We have a globe with a rainbow around it. Julianna asked Christine to draw it that way, but it wasn’t clear why. When I asked her, J said “Because it’s God’s promise to the world.”

PPS: Julianna talks to herself pretty frequently, and the microphone has let us into more of her inner dialogue. This is a pep talk, J-style:

J: Hot dog!

M: Hmmm?

J: I’m prepared for anything. I’ve got my BiPAP, my chair, my cart, my microphone, my pillows, my family….

Julianna Yuri

“I’m Going to Win because I’m a Princess.”

“Hot Dog!”