Maria

The name is fabled in song and story. Sometimes it is preceded by “Ave.” Sometimes she is asked to take a letter. A group of Austrian nuns ask how to solve a problem involving her. She is serenaded on fire escapes. There are countless associations and images associated with the name. How do you think of Maria?

I think of my daughter, who bears the name and who turned seven on Monday. Maria is, like many children, a bundle of contradictions. She is boundlessly, prodigiously creative. She is an incredible stickler for rules, insisting that her daily homework of reading 10 minutes per day be verified, even to the point of timing it. She loves to dress up and regularly emerges from her room with an array of items, including tiaras, feather boas and about a dozen hats, sometimes simultaneously. She is a princess, a superhero, an artist, an expert on dogs and cats, a brilliant deflator of egos, especially that of her brother. She loves to dance and sing, making up songs as she goes along. She is graceful one moment, clumsy the next. She figured out how to play Clue before she could read. She is learning how to play cribbage even before she has the math skills. To her father, she is a puzzle, a challenge and most of all a source of unending joy.