President
This is a little story that I've been meaning to post; it happened last week (yes, it's a true story) when Jack, Syd and I were out for our walk. We were walking in the smaller, less muddy of the two parks near our house where Syd can go off-leash. It was a pristine day: the sky was piercingly blue (quite a change for us New Englanders this winter!) and most of the snow was melted (hence the mud) and we were enjoying our walk. We were there a little after noon, so there weren't many other people there. We made a right hand turn to cross the stream and go up the hill to the playground and saw a very old man and a woman I guessed to be his wife and a baby who I assumed was their grandchild. They were an Asian family and the baby was beautiful beautiful with watchful dark eyes. The ancient man (who probably wasn't that ancient but who had probably lived a very different life much harder than the one in suburban Boston) about him that gave him the Central Casting Old Wise Chinese Herbalist look: he was missing some teeth and had some elaborate dental work and was bent over and wizened and had a huge smile. The woman looked slightly less ancient than the man and was equally effusive and smiling when I said hello. Neither one spoke much English, although the Man was clearly the spokesperson and translator. So I learned that the baby was seven months old. The thing is, both the man and the woman, who had such a beautiful baby with them, were awestruck by Jack. The old woman knelt down and took one of Jack's hands (holding her own little bundle the whole time) and the old man stroked Jack's cheeks and touched his feet. And then the old man smiled and laughed and pointed to Jack and said "President! President!" And I smiled and thanked him and then he insisted again, "President! President!"
So, that's some pretty hefty praise and has me worried about the baggage I might pile onto my little baby who has two or three words and who is struggling to learn to walk and sometimes has a hard time with solid food. President. I can only hope that the Wise Ancient Kind Chinese Herbalist was thinking of JFK or FDR or WJC when he said it. Of course, Mr. Central Casting could also have meant class president or company president. But I'm thinking the Big Cahoona.
4:44:33 PM 
|
|
