Barefoot Princess

Summer is where the girls go barefoot
and their hearts are just as free as their toes.

As I contemplate the changing season that will shortly come, my thoughts turn to my barefoot princess. Not unlike her mother, she adores shoes but kicks them off every chance she gets. Watching her run barefoot in the summer grass will always be one of my favorite things – no matter how old she is.

To me, Vienna captures every season.
She is the excitement of spotting violets in Spring –
The sunshine on the warmest day in Summer –
The rare beauty of a changing leaf in Autumn –
And the happiness of crisp morning air in Winter.
Everywhere I go, people tell me how beautiful she is. But I don’t want her to ever take it all to heart – not because you never know how long beauty will last – but because she is so much more than beautiful. While the world values a girl’s beauty, her mother values her spirit. Vienna’s spirit is really something to behold. She is vivacious and strong. She has the softest way about her and then out of nowhere she will come running barefoot and wild toward you in her best church dress. She will scream for what she wants, but then you say, “Vienna, is that what we say?” and she smiles and asks for what she wants in the kindest tone using please and thank you.
She is in one word a surprise.

Most of all, she is free. I remember one day, years ago, I was leaving church and there was a class of three year olds with their arms folded walking in a line perfectly behind their teacher. And then all of a sudden, this toe-headed little girl ran past the teacher as fast as her legs could carry her. The teacher scanned the rest of the class and then looked at me and said, “Hmm.. She is a free spirit.” I laughed then and I laugh now, because that’s how I see my Miss Vienna. In so many ways, running barefoot in the grass defines her.

Blog to you soon,