Momma Look at My Face.

We were riding in the minivan when we heard an ambulance.  Lotta commented that she thought the ambulance would help someone hurt.  I wondered aloud if Ben recalled riding in an ambulance with Ellie.  He had.  We talked about how much he loved riding in the ambulance as much as Ellie hated it. 

Suddenly Lotta said we should go pick Ellie up. 

Shocked, I explained that we couldn't do that because Ellie had died.

There was silence in the backseat.

Lotta said, "Momma look at my face. I yooo yad Ellie dead." 

I told her that I too was sad that Ellie was dead.  I went on to explain that if Ellie were alive we would never leave her somewhere without us. We would always be with her taking care of her.

Then Lotta asked if Ellie's momma had died.

Surprised, I explained that I was in fact Ellie's mom.  She was Ellie's sister.  We went through everyone's relationship to Ellie. 

Then Lotta became once again confused as she came to my mom who had just departed from a visit.  Throughout the visit, Lotta referred to my mom as ,"your mommy" rather than "agogo" the term for grandparent in Malawi.

Another one of those instances where I thought we had all been discussing the same thing only to discover Lotta had been hearing a completely different story.