“Hi, Grammy! Did you hear the wish I made last night all the way up there?”
“What did you wish?” Annie pulled a small saucepan from a cabinet and poured the soup into it. The saucepan went on the burner next to the kettle.
“I told Jesus I wished I could tell you all about my new teacher and the kids in my class and the way bigger playground. And now I can!” Joanna’s little voice grew more and more excited until it was punctuated by a stifled yawn.
“That’s one of my favorite kinds of wishes.” Annie selected a wooden spoon from a bouquet of utensils blooming from a stoneware crock and stirred the soup, adjusting the flame so it would heat slowly. “Tell me all about it.”
The next ten minutes were filled with colorful descriptions of the new school building and Mrs. Bop, the teacher, and why Joanna thought Morgan was going to be her newest good friend. Joanna concluded by informing Annie that a magician was going to perform at school the next day, the last day of the first week, and that John kept tugging on her arm so she had to go.
“I loved hearing about your first week of kindergarten, Joanna! And I love you very much. Good night, sweetheart!”
“I love you too, Grammy. I miss you more than a bear misses honey.” Joanna passed the phone over to John.
“Grammy, I thought Joanna would never give me a turn! Guess what? My teacher, Mrs. Ensign, asked us to bring in our favorite toy animal tomorrow, and she’s going to take our pictures with them to put on the bulletin board.”
“What a fun idea, John. Which animal are you taking?”
“The gray whale you gave me, of course! Whales rule.”
John’s comment reminded Annie of her recent conversation with Ian. “Whales are amazing creatures, for sure. A friend of mine here tells me there is a maritime museum not too far away with all kinds of displays about boats and whales. I’m going to send you a brochure in my next letter.”
“Awesome! When can we come? Do you know what kind of boats they have?”
“You’re just going to have to come and see for yourself. And make sure you read the brochure with your mom.”
“Grammy, send it right now.”
“The post office is closed for the night, but I promise to send it tomorrow. How do you like your classmates?”
“I like them so far, ’specially Tyler. He’s funny and didn’t even get mad when he couldn’t eat the cupcakes Sara’s mother made for us. He has celery disease.”
“That’s an illness I don’t recognize.”
“Tyler’s dad talked to us about it. Celery disease is when you can’t eat anything made with wheat stuff. It makes Tyler really sick if he eats any.”
“Oh, Tyler has celiac disease.”
John spoke with a consciously polite tone. “Yes, Grammy, that’s what I already told you. Anyway, when Tyler heard I had a twin sister, he gave me his cupcake for Joanna. She liked that a lot.”
“How thoughtful of Tyler. Your other classmates didn’t mind you getting the extra cupcake?”
“Nah, none of them have a twin. They think that’s neat, even though Joanna’s a girl, so we can’t switch places and play tricks on people.”
LeeAnn cut into the conversation. “John, it’s bath time. Daddy’s waiting for you upstairs. Say goodnight to Grammy.”
“I have to go get clean, Grammy. I love you. Don’t forget to send the museum thing.”
“I won’t, John. Tell Daddy I said hello. Love you!”
“Bye.” Annie heard his small legs charging up the stairs and his holler. “I have to get my whales, Daddy. They’re dirty too.”
LeeAnn was back on the line. “They miss you so much, Mom, even though you were here just a couple of weeks ago.”
“What more can I do to convince you to come to Maine for Thanksgiving vacation?” Annie asked. “I found a maritime museum that is perfect for John. And the weather will actually be cool enough for a fire! All of you will love Stony Point, I just know it.”
“John and Joanna are already doing a good job of convincing me. During nightly prayer they keep asking Jesus if they can go to Maine, and if He’d help them get there. Herb is a little concerned that the travel will be too tiring for the twins, but I think he’ll realize they can handle it once they get more used to school and aren’t so tired all week.”
“I’m joining John and Joanna in their prayers. You know the Bible says that the Lord works and who can hinder it? There’s a special surprise I’m cooking up for when you come.” Annie couldn’t wait any longer. She ladled the soup into a bowl and cut a piece of corn bread. She would tell LeeAnn about the mystery next time when she wasn’t so hungry. Maybe she’d have more answers by then from the website posts.