KID STUFF

On my desk sits a prized possession: a crayon drawing by my great nephew, Nathan, which boldly says, “Uncle Frank”. Each time I see this little masterpiece of colors I’m reminded of the love and playfulness of my brother’s grandchildren…and of their innocent wisdom.

Little Vito, another great nephew, said to his mother, “Mom, I get God-mail. Sometimes, I’m just sitting not doing anything and these thoughts come into my head. I think it’s God-mail.” On another occasion, when he was about four, he asked my brother, “Nonno, what color is God?” My brother said, “I don’t know. What color is God?” Vito said, “Gray.” Somewhat surprised big Vito said, “Gray? Where did you hear that?” “In school, we learned God is good, God is gray.”

Perhaps my best lesson from children came from my son, Steven. When he was about five his best friend was Jason, a bit older and, I thought, always taking advantage of Steve, taking his toys, making him do things, etc. I tried to get Steven to stand up for himself, but was not very successful.

One time upon returning from a business trip to Japan I brought him the latest transformer toy, which had not yet made it to the U.S. It was a combination robot, jet, and gun, each made by rearranging the parts. Steve had to run and show it to Jason, who promptly took it from him and somehow broke the toy. Steve came home in tears, crushed at his loss. I did my best to console him, promising him another on my next trip. I was sad for him, but also happy that perhaps now he had learned a valuable lesson and would choose his friends more wisely.

Within the next hour I looked out into the back yard and saw the two of them playing together again. I stepped out into the deck and called Steve over, and reminded him that Jason had broken his new toy. I asked him, “What are you doing playing with him?” He didn’t say anything, but simply looked at me, with a look that said, “Are you nuts? Don’t you know he’s my best friend?” And went back to play.