Grace Karidaughter of Laurie Dix Kari
and Phil Kari
peers through a window of of her A-frame be-blizzarded home in Wasilla, Alaska, after wiping the snow off the pane, pleading with her family to please let her in. She promises to be good, or at least better. Her entreaties were apparently weakening her strong-willed family, so she used her heaviest artillery to gain entrance to the toasty be-wood-stoven house.
Announcing that 'it is my birthday, for crumb sake!' and that she is now at the transformative age of automatic well-behaved SIXTEEN (16), and....... flashing her best smile....... zing-go, she got in.
And lo, the family was not making her stand in the cold out of strict old-school Finnish discipline. They were actually readying a birthday celebration for their acting, swimming and steel drumming daughter/sister. Grace knew they were pretending, so she played along and just acted kind of scared and, uh, frozen.
LOOK
THE AMARYLLIS BULB SHOT UP AND ACTUALLY BEGAN OPENING ON GRACE'S 16TH BIRTHDAY.
As the amaryllis carries with it a great deal of symbolism in this household,
the reader will note that the famous Grace-offering old man print hangs in an auspicious and well-juxtaposed position, near the blooming flower. (Click to enlarge.)
Happy birthday
GRACE
Love, Grandpa
