My girlfriend, who is thus far grandchildless and enjoys mine, has observed that small children are entertaining for grandparents. Art Linkletter understood that when he included his “Kid’s Say the Darndest Things” in his show in the 1950s. My own grandchildren have been a source of amusement for the past five years.
Gabriel, pictured above and the grandchild who lives with us and is surrounded by adults, frequently models them. Yesterday he had a gymnastics clinic at the Morgan Family YMCA in Tacoma. Another little boy in his group got into trouble and was told to go to the end of the line. This news made the little boy very upset and he began to cry. According to the teacher Gabriel said, “It’s okay. I’ll go to the back of the line behind you and then you won’t be last.” While they stood in line Gabriel patted the little fellow on the back and sang, “Cheer up Charlie” to him.
After class my son and daughter-in-law were told this story which made them smile and feel very proud of Gabriel. He was allowed to choose a reward for being such a good friend and he picked going to Odyssey with his daddy on Sunday followed by Indian food for lunch.
Sometimes the little “crumb crunchers” as my father called them, can just about drive you crazy, but then they turn around and do something so over the moon charming that you can’t hardly stand it.
4 comments:
What a wonderful story, Stephanie. I like Gabriel very much. He's a doll.
That is the sweetest story. I'm not sure that I know any adults that would do what he did. We all need somebody like that in our corner.
Gabriel's appearance in our family was a surprise. He really, really, REALLY wanted to be here and I think he will do something amazing with his life. His lawyer grandmother in Brazil thinks he will be a lawyer because he tries to talk his way out of the hijinx he gets into. If he chooses law, he will be as a public defender because he loves people so much.
That's a thousand-watt smile...making the world a little brighter!
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