The Sweetest Thing Happened

Our granddaughter Mia is twenty months old. She loves both of us—I get my share of “Nana” while she reaches for me—but she seems to be especially fond of her Papa. He’s limited, physically, and needs to sit much more than he stands. She has gotten him to get up and go with her by reaching out her hand, and she’s managed to even get him to get down on the floor with her, so we had no idea she was sensitive to his need to be seated more than not. She is, after all, a toddler with a limited vocabulary. She is also, however, a very astute observer and can follow complicated directions, so we know she understands a lot more than she is able to verbalize. One day recently Wyatt and Mia spent a few hours here, and then Corey and Doug came to get them. We all (except Ed) ended up in the back yard, and Mia spent a little time on her swing before she asked to be unlocked to get down. Corey got her out of the swing, and we all called for Ed, who hadn’t come out. He came to the back door, and we asked him to join us. He said, “I haven’t got shoes on.” Mia said, “shoes” several times, and then she chugged her chubby little legs up the back ramp and took him by the hand and led him into the house. She headed toward the basket at the front door where we drop our shoes and he told her no, that his shoes were in the bedroom under his chair, and she went and got them, brought them to him and waited while he put them on. Then she stuck out her hand and led him back outside. He went down the ramp and stood at the back gate watching the activity while she came back into the yard with the rest of us. And then she did the most amazing thing. She walked over to where we have two plastic chairs and picked one of them up by the arms and carried it without dragging it or dropping it all the way over to him. All two feet of her. We watched her carrying that chair to her Papa in awe, first that she could do it, and second that she would do it—that she had that great a sensitivity and understanding that he needed to sit down if he was going to join us. We were struck dumb at first and then of course told her how sweet that was. He thanked her multiple times, but she just went about her business, as if of course that’s what you do when you love your Papa.