25 Comments
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Terrell Johnson's avatar

I love this, Edith — and I laughed out loud at the part when he showed up at your house and told Tom the birthing story 😀

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Edith Zimmerman's avatar

Thank you, Terrell! I'm so glad & I obviously loved that part too, IRL!

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JFS's avatar

OMG, this story, Edith! You so perfectly captured the sweetness and awkwardness and randomness and sublimeness (sp?) of talking to strangers.

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Edith Zimmerman's avatar

Thank you so much, Jenny. I love that description. That's exactly how it felt.

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Megan Magliozzi's avatar

I can't wait to see the butterfly it becomes!

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Edith Zimmerman's avatar

Me too! I think we'll get back in time. More to come, I hope. (But if it dies, I will NOT be mentioning it here again)

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Elizabeth Bobrick's avatar

If I could draw the weepy eyes emoji, I would. How sweet and touching! (NOVEMBER!!)

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Edith Zimmerman's avatar

<3 (And, it feels so soon!!!! And yet also so far away...)

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Jason McBride's avatar

Thanks for sharing this. It was just the kind of light, fun, and uplifting thing I needed today. You help me remember that there is good in the world and not all of humanity is my enemy (just big swathes of it)

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Edith Zimmerman's avatar

Thank you, Jason!

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Sara Campbell's avatar

This is just so wholesome and wonderful. Thank you!

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Edith Zimmerman's avatar

Thank YOU, Sara!!

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Luke Leighfield's avatar

This is amazing!!!!

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Edith Zimmerman's avatar

Thank you, Luke!!

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Andrew Janjigian's avatar

I love this story. It starts out like it might be creepy and then is just lovely.

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Edith Zimmerman's avatar

Thank you, Andrew!

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Amy Jean Porter's avatar

Love this! We brought two in last year and the whole thing is incredible to watch. I still think about Mr. Butters sometimes, watching him flap up to the tall tree, thinking about how crazy that must have felt -- for a little guy with the heart of a squishy crawler. Buddy (the second one) crawled on our hands a lot before taking off.

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Edith Zimmerman's avatar

Omg, MR. BUTTERS AND BUDDY

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Amy Jean Porter's avatar

I know - my 10yr-old came up with those. I have a story for them of course. It really is amazing to watch them do their thing.

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KMar's avatar

This is such a sweet story! My little family and I are in our third round of raising and releasing butterflies right now. We have done two sets of Monarchs and one of Painted Ladies. The Monarchs are just beautiful. Their chrysalis is the most gorgeous, perfect green, and gold-rimmed with tiny flecks. My almost-five-year-old found all of these Monarchs as tiny eggs or newly hatched caterpillars on milkweed plants in her grandpa's garden. We are fairly practiced at this now, so if you need tips in the future, just let me know! As your new friend mentioned, they are pretty hardy even in transition form and can travel quite well and will even maintain their chrysalis if stored or moved upside down. It's amazing!

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Edith Zimmerman's avatar

Oh, I love this. Now I wish we had risked the car trip. I want to see these gold rims and tiny flecks! Thank you, KM!

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Piemouth's avatar

This is a wonderful story and I agree, a great moment of bonding with a stranger.

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Edith Zimmerman's avatar

Thank you, PM!

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Claire Zulkey's avatar

That's a sweet story. I love that he loves talking about his family so much and hope you guys will too decades from now.

I will always associate growing caterpillars with the late spring of 2020, which we did at home for my kid's preschool during COVID. It was extremely sad and a relief to let them go. I never want to grow them again.

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Edith Zimmerman's avatar

I loved it, too! I likewise hope we are the same way. Also, lol: "I never want to grow them again."

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