A Healer’s Geste

Hans’ blue house

I have had several people ask how Hans has adjusted to moving to a new house. He had a minute of denial the day we moved in, thinking I was teasing him that he was going to sleep in this house. I said, “You get to sleep in the blue house now, Hans!” This was the wrong way to phrase it, because he assumed from the statement that only he was going to sleep in it, and Mommy, Daddy, and Jaeger were going back “home” to sleep. As soon as that misunderstanding was cleared up, he said, “Hooray!” and started jumping all over the living room.

Hans slept perfectly that first night and every night since. He loves this house and doesn’t want to go back to the other house at all. For the first week, this house to Hans was “the blue house” while the Kennewick house was still “home.” This led to a few confusing moments. Getting into the car after a Costco trip, I said “Now we’re going home.” “No!” shouted Hans, “Go blue house, please!” “Ok, we’ll go to the blue house,” Mommy conceded, “Hans? Should the blue house be home, now?” “Yeah!!” “Ok, the blue house will be our home, now.” And that cleared that up.

This house was made for Hans; it is his dream house. 1) It is blue. 2) We can see the airplanes take off and land at the Pasco airport. 3) A school bus stops right in front of our house every school morning. 4) We are still directly across from the mailboxes, so Hans can watch the mail-lady. The only disappointment there is she doesn’t drive the standard “mail truck,” so it’s not as exciting as it used to be. 5) All kinds of trucks, semis, and trailers of bales go to and from on Road 68/Taylor Flats, which we can see clearly across a field of tumbleweeds. 6) We can see the blue water tower, which also has the letters ‘A,’ ‘S,’ and ‘O,’ some of Hans’ favorite letters. 7) We can see two flags from our back sliding glass door, too. 8) There is dirt in the back yard to play in, and since Mommy can see him and talk to him from the kitchen window or dining room table, he can play outside more often (perhaps I should say “at all”). 9) We’re still close to Yoke’s, where he can push his own little cart or ride in a car. 10) This one he doesn’t realize yet, but he will soon discover: Emma will have softball practices and tournaments several times a week less than a mile away at the TRAC fields, and Grandma will still have to drive her until August…..what will Grandma do when she has 2 hours to kill on a sunny day in a park with a traditional playground AND a water playground AND multiple fields of girls playing ball?? I wonder…..