Chapter 10 - Where We Rank
That evening, after the school celebrations were over and the sun began to set behind the rolling hills of Bennett Ridge, we sat on the front porch watching the fireflies begin to glow in the twilight meadow.
Zoe sat on the porch swing between my mother and me, eating a slice of homemade strawberry pie, her small legs swinging back and forth.
Her golden retriever puppy, Star, lay asleep at our feet, his tail twitching occasionally in his dreams.
The air was soft, warm, and filled with the gentle song of evening crickets.
Zoe set her pie plate down on the small table, leaned back against my shoulder, and looked up at the stars beginning to appear in the darkening blue sky.
"Mommy?" Zoe asked softly.
"Yes, sweetie?" I asked, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.
"Remember when Daddy said that people show you where you rank?" she asked innocently, her voice quiet and reflective.
My mother stopped rocking the swing for a second, looking over at me.
"I remember, Zoe," I said gently, keeping my voice calm and comforting.
Zoe looked at her grandmother, then turned her big, clear brown eyes up to mine.
"I know what it means now," Zoe said, a small, confident smile playing on her lips.
"What does it mean, sweetheart?" my mother asked softly, taking Zoe’s little hand in hers.
Zoe reached into her pocket and pulled out a small silver paper star she had saved from her moving-up crown today. She held it up toward the sky, right between us.
"It means," Zoe declared with absolute, unshakeable certainty, "that people who love you put you first. They don't give your seat away, they don't let you fall, and they sit right where you can see them so you never have to search for them."
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I pulled my daughter tight against my chest, pressing a long kiss into her soft hair, while my mother wrapped her arms around both of us.
"That’s right, my sweet girl," I whispered into the quiet night air, looking out over the ridge that my family had reclaimed, where we would live safe, loved, and whole for all the years to come. "That’s exactly where you rank. Right at the very top."
