Muffled in memories, I walk my brain to the Panida, where DaNae and Nik Aguirre, the youngest goslings in “Charlotte’s Web” made their debut as “Petunia” and “Buster.” Garbed in soft yellow cloth and bright puddle boots, they marched across the stage in a tight train of feathers.
I rewind the video and watch the play with fresh eyes. DaNae, now 22, still loves the theater and will make another debut in a play at the Panida in October, while her younger brother, Nik, died in a car accident a day before his 18th birthday.
The tape rolls on, and the goslings scamper across the stage. They fall like a stack of dominoes, and the mother goose swings each one up and they call out their name. “Petunia,” DaNae says, grinning triumphantly. Buster, in typical Nik fashion, scoots backwards on his bottom away from his parent. She captures him and the audience laughs. “Buster,” Nik shouts. The audience claps.
About Me
- Desire` Aguirre
- I live in Idaho with four cats, two dogs, and two horses. A free-lance journalist, I write for The River Journal, The Reader, The Sentinel, Sandpoint Magazine and Idaho Magazine. When my son, Niko, died May 8, 2008, I became a member of the worst day club. I returned to complete my senior year at LCSC and studied parental grief for my communications research project. It is my hope that by sharing my experience, strength, and hope with other bereaved parents, I will make sense of my son's death, learn how to live without his smile, and help other's trudge through the grieving process. My son's life gave me the courage to actively pursue my passions, and I learned how to play banjo, guitar, mandolin, fiddle, bodhran, bones, mountain and hammer dulcimer, and now write songs and am a member of the old time string band, "Ruff Shodd." For fun, I also write the blog "Harold the Ghost."
Nik, Desire` and DaNae Aguirre
family reunion, 2007
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