Dear Valentina [The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel]

☆ Chapter Seventeen: Grant Me the Serenity

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things
I cannot change, courage to change the things I can,
 and wisdom to know the difference." 
— Reinhold Niebuhr

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.      GRANT ME THE SERENITY

☆

      Valerie woke up to peering eyes and steady breathing.

      Flat on her belly, the side of her face smothered into the pillow and her arms curled underneath it, the twenty-six-year old begrudgingly opened her eyes when the sunlight could no longer be ignored and the childish exhilaration from downstairs shook the room's wooden floorboard. Blinking back the lingering sleep, her blurry gaze darted around the interior until landing on her five year old nephew, who sat smack dab in the middle of the bedroom after pulling up a chair from the desk. Teddy was one of Joseph and Maggie's litter, and a delicate-looking, quiet boy who took after neither of his parents. Though he retained his father's dark looks and his mother's sensibility, he was unique in his own right. He was quiet yet intrusive, kind but also honest, intellectually inquisitive but lacking interest in sports or academics. Joseph acknowledged he was an oddball in terms of little boys, but never resented having a sweet and sensitive son. Nevertheless, it didn't stop him from trying to get him to play ball once in and while with the other kids. Maggie, though used to boys naturally obtaining boastful masculinity from a young age thanks to their fathers, secretly adored having such a gentle kid. It didn't hurt that James was the same way.

      Now, swearing on her mother's grave, Valerie did not pick favorites from her nephews and nieces. She loved them all equally and tried to split her time between them as fairly as she could when she visited. However, there was always a special connection between her and Teddy, perhaps, because he reminded her a bit of herself when she was in that age group. She could recall herself being incredibly observant of the people around her and the events playing out in the community, always wanting to know more and understanding very early on it was better to watch and listen than talk sometimes. She never hesitated to ask questions about all manners of life, whether about the Catholic faith she was being raised in, the quasi-dysfunctional structure of her families, or the interpersonal relationships of the Southside. She remembered not fitting in with many girls in her grade year, because she didn't have the same interests as them, but also not fitting in with the boys, because she lacked skill in playing street hockey, or reading Adventure comics, or understanding how the male mind worked. She preferred to stick to her older siblings as company.