Love in the time of Dinosaurs

If you see Gabriel sometime, please let him know that someone found his dinosaur. Or, if you should see a dinosaur and he seems a little lost and confused, his name might be Gabriel. Try calling his name and see how he responds.

Finding this tag in a wet parking lot reminded me all over again why I do not like The Velveteen Rabbit. There are parts of it that are lovely, of course, but it has always bothered me that the rabbit was left behind by the child. Left in the rainy yard, alone, steeping in the forgetfulness of its child-owner. At least, that is how i remember it. Yet, as I know, love prevails...and it is love that makes us Real...and sometimes becoming Real hurts.

As an adult, I understand something of the difficult honor that love is, and that ultimately, yes, Love is whole making, and it draws me on toward the unknown wonder of what is ahead, and that Love is home and hard and liberating and consoling and ah and wow and tears and silence and laughter and letting go...and profoundly Real.

Dinosaurs were real once...and if you ask a child, they might still be. I think that's fantastic...

Long live Love, and long live little Gabriel and his dreams, wherever he may be.