"Nannie!"

The other day, my mother shared yet another memory from Alli's life with me; another piece of her and of who she was. She told me that when she lived next door to the Hunts in Nacadocious she was home by herself one day when she heard the front door open. In just a minute she heard "Nannie!" Apparently little Allison, only about 2 years old at the time, had either found a house door she could open or had been playing in the backyard and gone out the gate and walked next door to my mom's all by herself. Once my mom realized, Alli was alone, she told her something to the tune of "Now Allison, you can't some over here by yourself. Mommy and Daddy dont' know where you are." Allison replied in the sweetest little toddler voice "But I want to see you." My mom explained to her again that she just could not come over alone anytime she wanted and promply took her back home. Once home, her parents explained to her that she couldn't do that, yet a few days later my mom again heard the door open and "Nannie!". She went to Alli and said "Now Allison, Mommy and Daddy told you you can't come over here by yourself. You know you're gonna get a spanking when you get home." Little Alli cried all the way back home. This went on several more times before it finally stopped.
I just thought this was a really precious story and it means alot to be, simply because it's another piece, another memory, from Alli's life. For me right now, discovering her is like gathering puzzle pieces back up after you've dropped the box on the floor. Some of the pieces are right there in front of you, while others have bounced under the sofa or the chair or may be residing right under your foot. You just have to take the time to seek all of them out, one by one...kind of like a giant scavenger hunt. Once I've found all the pieces, I'm hoping to be able to stand back and look at the complete person of who Alli really was, inside and out, though I know there will always be a few pieces missing; pieces only obtained by knowing her and speaking with her personally and, in some cases, by being inside her head. In fact, I don't know that anyone but God Himself will ever really have all the pieces to anyone else's life. The only person that can truely fill in their puzzle all the way is the person themself.