it's delightful...it's delicious...it's dawesome
April 29th, 2009 by Eliza

kai-jumping-2

Jan’s brother Kai was handsome, intelligent, charming, he loved a good debate, enjoyed acting, mastered a unicycle and lived life to the fullest.

I never knew him. When he was 21 he died in a tragic accident not long after this picture was taken.

A few months ago Jan told Millie all about Kai. She listened very carefully to the story of his life and ever since that moment, when she discovered she had a “new uncle”, some kind of a connection was forged between them.

She talks about him all the time. She wants to know about him. Out of the blue she will say to me, “You know what, Mom? I love Uncle Kai.” When we called her grandma Gitte today she whispered to me, “Mom, can I ask Granny about Kai?”  In February on the anniversary of his death I spoke to her about what a hard time it was for her Granny & Pappa and for her Daddy. She was concerned that they would be sad and wanted to understand why. When I told her it was because they were missing Kai. This is the exchange we had. 

“My new uncle?”
“Yes.”
“He is coming back though.”
“Well, we do believe that we will see him again one day – but not for a very long time”. At this point she began to get tearful and she said,
“But he is my uncle, and my daddy’s brother.”
“I know. And he is Granny and Papa’s son.” She started to cry.
I parked the car and got out so that I could give her a hug and some reassurance. She began to wipe her eyes and she said,
“I am going to be okay. I am okay.”
I then asked her, “What do you think we could do for Granny and Papa to show them that we love them and that we miss Kai too?”
She thought for a moment and then she said.
“We could decorate the temple for Kai and tell Granny and Papa that everything is going to be alright.”

This past Sunday she gave her very first talk in primary. Her assignment was to talk about the Savior and his resurrection. On Monday night for FHE we planned her talk together. She wanted to tell the story of Jesus’ resurrection and then she wanted to talk about her uncle Kai. I didn’t want the talk to be written by me. I wanted it to be an expression of her thoughts, ideas and feelings. After our discussion we wrote the talk together. Instead of writing words we drew pictures to help her remember what her talk was about. I drew the pictures that told the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection and Millie drew a picture of  uncle Kai, herself (she is the one in the middle with tears) and her granny and papa.
Millie was very excited to be, as she put it, “EVERYONE’S teacher.”
notes-for-millies-talk

Sunday came. That morning  Jan went over her talk with her. She knew it by heart.

When she stood at the podium she became nervous and she looked at me with a little fear in her eyes. I whispered the story in her ear and she repeated an account of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. But when the moment came for her to talk about Kai something shifted.

We’d brought a picture of Kai with us so that she could show all her primary buddies her uncle. I handed her his picture and all of the sudden she was completely confident and at ease. She spoke from her heart,  no promptings from mom. Just a heartfelt expression of the love she feels for her uncle Kai. And her testimony that she will see him again.

When she finished several people had tears in their eyes.

I wonder if this is what Robert George meant when he said, “the truth is luminous”.

Posted in Kai, Millie, talk | 3 Comments