grateful
ovenbird
For
Christmas
,
my
Aunt
gave
me
and
my
daughter
tickets
to
see
the
Shumka Ukrainian dancers
do
The
Nutcracker.
It
was
a
thoughtful
and
generous
gift
. “
Take
lots
of
pictures
!”
my
Aunt
insisted. “
I
want
to
see
the
joy
and
wonder
on
her
face
!”
I
was
nervous
about
this
instruction.
My
daughter
is
unpredictable
when
it
comes
to
joy
and
wonder
and
when
she
’s
not
having
fun
she
never
fakes
it
.
This
kid
has
perfected
a
wide
range
of
facial expressions
that
indicate displeasure.
But
I
hoped
for
the
best
.
We
took
a
ferry
to
Victoria
and
met
my
brother
and
his
wife
for
brunch.
In
hindsight
I
should
have
taken
the
Joy
and
Wonder
pictures
at
the
cafe
,
because
my
child
declared
the
raspberry
chocolate
pancakes
the
best
she
’d
ever
had
and
told
the
server
that
she
was
awarding
the
restaurant
five
out
of
five
stars
on
her
way
out
.
She
talked
about
the
quality
of
the
hot
chocolate
and
whipped
cream
all
the
way
to
the
theatre
.
I
had
no
way
of
knowing
that
brunch
would
be
the
high
point
of
the
day
.
When
we
settled
in
to
watch
the
show
I
was
in
a
very
optimistic
mood
.
And
I
was
truly
blown
away
by
the
production.
It
was
a
blend
of
Ukrainian folk
dance
and
ballet
.
The
costumes
were
opulent,
the
set
was
amazing
,
the
dancing
made
me
feel
a
fascinating
sense
of
connection
to
my
own
Ukrainian
heritage
.
At
intermission
I
asked
my
daughter
how
she
was
enjoying
it
.
This
is
when
she
switched
on
her
most
sullen
face
and
informed
me
that
she
WASN’T
enjoying
it
. “
This
is
really
more
of
a
gift
for
you
,”
she
said
with
vehemence. “
It
’s
boring
.”
I
took
a
picture
of
her
sitting
in
her
red
velvet
theatre
seat
with
her
arms
crossed defiantly
and
a
look
of
annoyed
misery
on
her
face
. (
I
did
not
send
this
picture
to
my
Aunt
.)
She
did
perk
up
a
little
in
the
second
half
when
the
men
,
in
their
silk
pants
and
black
boots
,
started
performing acrobatic leaps.
But
overall
she
gave
the
dance
production
two
out
of
five
stars
.
Kids
don’t
really
know
how
to
be
grateful.
I
find
that
people
don’t tend
to
think
much
about
gratitude
until
life
has
left
you
with
almost
nothing
.
It
’s
only
then
that
you
can
see
what
you
love
,
standing
resolute
and
fragile
,
the
only
spindly survivors
in
a
forest
that
’s
been
burned
to
the
ground
.
251202
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