Gorilla Girls

I've learned a lot about my girls this last week, all thanks to gorillas. First, let me say I believe that Ellie is pure of heart and soul. Every now and then she steps up to the plate and takes care of other people when they're scared. Especially Addie.

The other day we were at the airport picking up Daddy. We went into that beautiful store full of large photographic prints. I love that store as it's inspiring to see such beautiful images of nature. I thought that the girls would enjoy seeing the pictures too, especially the ones of the animals or fall colors.

It went well until we came around the corner and found ourselves face-to-face with a gorilla. A gorilla photo, that is, but Addie was terrified. She stopped in her tracks and her eyes got really big. She refused to move, even to move away. She was frozen with fear.

Ellie did not hesitate. As soon as she noticed that Addie was scared, she walked over to her and put her arm around her little sister. "It's ok. I'm here. I will keep you safe." She hugged her and Addie sighed a visible sigh of relief. "It's just a picture, but I understand why you are scared. It's a gorilla. I bet he's a friendly gorilla even if he looks a little scary." Addie did not agree, so Ellie said "How about we leave the gorilla alone now? Come on, I'll walk with you." She slowly turned Addie around (Addie was still frozen with fear), and gently nudged her toward the door.

Amazing.

A similar thing happened a couple days later at a restaurant. They sat us down next to a big poster of King Kong, and as soon as Addie noticed the poster, she was balling with tears of fear. Ellie put her arm around Addie for comfort. We told Addie that we could ask the waitress for a new table, and when the waitress came by Addie was actually able to ask through her tears "I have a new table please." Then when the waitress didn't understand, Ellie stepped up and said "She's scared of that pitcher and wants to know if we can sit at a different table." Ellie had her arms around Addie to comfort her all the way to the new, safer table.

Amazing.

Apparently our little Ellie instinctively knows when her sister needs her, and our little Addie is not a fan of gorillas.