Rowan has a very best friend. Her name is Jo. They call themselves, as a unit, RoJo.

Jo is almost 18 months older than Ro. Last week I overheard them discussing how they wished they were sisters. And that is how they get along, back and forth between bickering and hugs and kisses. It is really quite lovely.

Jo, it seems, has hit the 'death fascination' age. I remember my youngest sister at that stage~ inquiring avidly if every person or animal was dead/ dying/ or might do so at any moment. It is normal, just jarring!

I left them alone for a few moments today, to come back to the tail end of Jo filling in Ro about Terry Fox (got cancer, lost a leg, ran, died). Rowan's eyes were huge. Jo then proceeded with the story of a young child killed in a car accident. I actually said, to my mortification "Let's think happy thoughts, shall we?!".

Then came the debate to play inside or outside. Jo won with the convincing "if you don't get fresh air you will die" argument. Once outside, there were frequent screams about the poisonous beetle (aka ladybug). And when I picked up a bit of dropped popsicle and popped it in my mouth, Jo stood nose to nose with me and announced "You might die, you know.".

"I won't".
"but you might."
"naw."
"You could, right? I mean, you MIGHT die!"

She may or may not have been disappointed when I survived.

Rowan took it all in with 'big ears' and a bit of awe about all that Jo knew about a subject we have barely touched to date. I admit, I was kind of surprised, too.

But until she spends an hour playing with dead kittens in the barn like my sister Brooke, I won't be truly impressed. Mind you, the dead kittens and Brooke was really just little girls who didn't know better (until discovered in action by little boys who did know that the kitens shouldn't be all stiff like that) and just coincided with the death kick, but I digress.

I imagine I'll have some 'splainin to do over the next little while!