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/ Treasa Ní Chonchúir

八

EJ turned eight years old .

A selfie of EJ and I sitting at a bus stop. She’s dressed as a golden dragon, with scaly hand-knit fingerless gloves and a homemade black dress with a gold-colored Chinese-style dragon pattern on it. I’m wearing a command division Star Trek uniform from Strange New Worlds.
A fuzzy pink notebook is open on a table. A Spanish-language story is written out in a child’s handwriting. The story reads: “Había una vez cuando [una] pegasa llamada Erin encontró una estrella fugaz. Ella se montó hasta su castillo. Ella se sentó en su trono y este cuento se ha acabado. 🩷”
pegasa llamada Erin
My butterfly girl
A smiling child poses in front of a pair of blue, human-sized butterfly wings. The child has her arms outstretched. She’s wearing a striped dress. She has straight, dirty blonde hair past shoulder length.
A girl stands with her legs apart and arms spread above a grate. What appears to be steam is coming through the grate. (It is not hot and the child is not in pain.) She’s wearing a blue shirt, tie-dyed pants, a jean jacket, and a yellow face mask.
At the Exploratorium
A smiling child stands on a sidewalk. She has straight, dirty blonde hair that extends past her shoulders. She’s wearing a pink dress. Over the dress is a denim jacket. Under the dress are pink-and-gray plaid pants. On her feet are a pair of pink sneakers. There is vertical text on the right of the image which reads “EJ fit check: 💯 no notes”.
A photo of my family at the Heroes of Irish America awards ceremony. My mom is in the center. She has a bright green jacket on, and is wearing a nametag that identifies her as one of the award recipients. To her left is my dad, looking very dapper in a blue suit. I’m to his left, in a black, red, and pink floral dress. Eryn is on my left, looking extremely pretty in a dark, shimmery dress. Immediately to my mom’s right is my daughter Erin in a light pink dress. To her right, my sister Kathleen and her husband Shawn complete the family.
A smiling girl sits at and leans on a table. In front of her is a plate with a mostly-eaten sandwich on it. She’s wearing a floral dress with a pink cardigan over it. Her straight, dirty blonde hair extends past her shoulders. In front of her is text that reads “I love being your mom, kiddo~~”.
A smiling child holds a pastel-frosted cupcake up to the camera. She has dirty blonde hair. Two sets of text are printed on top of the image. The first reads “Mermaid cupcakes!”, and the second, “📌 Upper Noe Recreation Center”.
A smiling child wears a blue mermaid-tail ring on one finger. Superimposed on the image are the words “It’s World IVF Day. Without IVF, I wouldn’t have you, kiddo. So glad you could join us. 💜🩷”
Yum.
A smiling child sits in front of an ice cream shop. Her mouth is ringed with bits of ice cream. She wears a tie-dye T-shirt and a blue hoodie. Her dirty blonde hair is straight and reaches to her chest.
Eryn helps EJ jump over waves at Kailua Beach on the windward side of Oahu. There are a number of other people in the water, with boogie boards and inner tubes.
Jumping over waves at Kailua Beach