Age

Elijah has this fascination right now with age. The moment he sees someone he proudly volunteers, "I'm five...but I'll be five and a half in May." If the conversation were to stop right there it wouldn't be so uncomfortable...except that he quickly transitions in wanting to know how old the other person is. I've tried to explain to him that not everyone is as giddy as he is about his age.

The other day he asked me when I was going to be 40. Thinking this was a great opportunity to work on subtraction, I helped him work through figuring out how long it will be until his 36-year old dad will be 40. He did a great job...and then proudly proclaimed, "Daddy, in 4 years you will be Over The Hill!"

WHAT!?!?!?! Where did that come from?!?!?! While I did get a chuckle about that, I encouraged Elijah to not inform other people that he meets that they are over the hill.

THEN...last week Elijah and I were driving to the grocery store, and we saw Rita Harrell walking. If you don't know Rita, then you are missing out on one of the truly special people that walks God's earth. She works down in the Volunteer Center here at ACU. Her husband has been suffering with Alzheimer's for many years, and she has cared for him tirelessly.

In addition to this she's an avid walker...and that's where Elijah and I saw her. I waived to her as we drove by, and she waived back. So Elijah asked, "Who is that?" I told him who she was...and his next question was, "How old is she?"

"Well, I'm not sure," I said. "She has a son my age, so I guess she's about grandma's age."

Elijah, fully cognizant that Grandma is 62, exclaimed, "Wow, she's old...but she's very pretty." So I took the opportunity to share that with Rita yesterday...the "pretty" part, not the "old" part.

So if you ever need some brutally honest reaffirmation give me a call. I'll be happy to hook you up with my 5-year old.