Gone Too Soon By Dr. Juan Harrison
Gone Too Soon
With their third one due in a couple of months we volunteered to take Jack and Emmie to the Children’s Museum and give her a little time to get the house ready for a Super Bowl party that weekend. It was a grand time for the grands. Jack, Emmie, and I played in sand, cooked in the kitchen, stacked blocks, put on stethoscopes to check baby dolls, and a dozen other activities they had there for them. We escaped from the gift store with only a long purple snake and a container of slime. A couple of hours passed quickly.
Us old guys then looked for a child acceptable restaurant where we could all, including the snake, find something we liked. The Italian place worked for us with a giant slice of pizza for them and an Italian dish for us. The bread was delicious, so Jack named his snake Bread Bread after feeding him part of a roll.
Before leaving town, we had to run through Mickey D’s for a cone. Jack got excited when we said yes there would be ice cream in the cone. On the way home through the backroads we continued to sing along with songs Mamaw played on her phone through the car radio. I did ok on the “If You’re Happy and Know It” song with “Hooray” but had trouble clapping my hands and stomping my feet while driving. Before long we sang one to sleep and wiped ice cream off the other.
I was telling Mamaw the other day how precious this was and how fleeting. For such a short time they believe in all you say and put total and complete trust in you. They say exactly what they think and feel. Just when you think they can’t come up with some unique new phrase or game, they do. You’re jealous of their energy and honesty. When they’re tired, they sleep. When they’re hungry, they complain. There is not a lot of ambiguity there. Too bad the rest of the world couldn’t operate like that.
I’m reminded how valuable it all is. It can’t be bought. Soon they will outgrow us. We’ll become old and not be the great presence in their lives as friends and family dominate their time. For a few short years we get to be the fun people to come and give Mom and Dad a break and a dinner alone as we let the little ones cover the playroom floor and bathtub with a layer of toys. If we’re lucky we finally get them to bed. If we’re luckier, we get them to sleep. Mamaw comes around my side of the bed and sits on the floor and hooks her tow truck onto my almost disabled body to help me up. I’m already feeling that soothing mattress and my just reward for an outing with the Energizer Bunnnies.
By Dr. Juan Harrison
