Dearly beloved, we are gathered here on this fine April day to mourn the passing of a dear linguistic friend.
“Da” was not the first thing to come from the nascent mouth of precocious Norah – that honor goes to “Blgblb” (with a runner-up to “Nrrn”) – but none had quite the impact, nor the culturally-obtuse charm, as “Da.”
Da was many things to so many people: an affirmative, a title, a question, an expression of pathos, a Russian word. But for Norah, it was so much more. It was a means of communication, a first teetering foray into the world of linguistic expression. Da was the chance for a little girl, barely ambulatory, to interact within her world environs, to reach out and beyond primal cries and barbaric yawps, to scream “I AM HERE” to the resounding masses.
It was her toddler gesamkunstwerk. Her zeitgeist. And as it passes from this mortal coil, we are left with naught but pleasant memories and a lasting impact that it had upon her – and our – lives.
The scriptures read “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of ‘yeah,’ I shall fear no English.” And while Da has given way to “Yes, Papa,” “Of course you can,” and “Oh, SANK you, Papa, SANK you” in its inexorable plunge towards adolescence and the inevitable “Whatever, Dad,” we acknowledge – yea, we know – that there are things to come that will touch our lives in much the same way.
This is not to diminish our dear departed friend Da. Far from it, Da’s impact shall resonate and resound throughout the lives of everyone with whom it has touched. And it is that impact that we are gathered here today to commemorate. For Da was so much more than a consonant and a vowel. It was life. It was peace. It was… Da. And it’s memory will live on forever, creating in those left behind a better world in which to live.
It is for that that that we thank Da.
And the Russian nanny.
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DA!