Rainbows

Celebration, FL

September 22, 2009

Dear Sammy,

I imagine that soon, if not yet, when you're family is on a walk, your stroller will stop suddenly and as one parent says "Look Sammy, look" the other will scoop you up and point a finger in an arc while looking at you and looking at the sky.

The excitement will be all about a rainbow. Rainbows happen unexpectedly during or after a rainstorm. One of the first stories about a rainbow you'll hear is from the Bible. You'll hear this story often as it involves one ship (called an ark), one big family (like ours, with lots of cousins), and all living things. The animals come aboard the ark "Two by two" and songs and games about the story name most of the animals in the world, so you will hear a lot about them.

In the story, all the people of the earth except the family are doing bad things to each other so God causes a flood to make the bad things stop and everyone except the people on the ark die. When the flood is over and the family and animals see land, God puts a rainbow in the sky as a promise that such an awful thing will never happen again.

The rainbow promises us that while some people do bad things, God helps us to do good. For example, when people see a rainbow, they often remember the promise and when floods happen, they give each other food, clothes and a place to stay.

Mostly though, rainbows just make people happy. They are a surprise. They are a gift. A question in the Sunday paper asked, "How far away is a rainbow?" The scientific answer is "4 to 6 miles or as far away as one can still the rain." The answer from the heart is "Very, very close."

Love,

Marmee

P.S. When I was a teacher like your mom, one little boy didn't hear my name right and called me "Mrs. Rainbow". Maybe you will call me Marmee Rainbow someday.

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