Had a long phone conversation with my now-6-year-old nephew Cashel, on Thanksgiving day. He’s not really a phone person, so I clearly caught him in a good place … and bombarded him with questions.
With Cashel, everything must be content-oriented. And by that I mean, if you ask him a question, “How are you?” you’re gonna get NOTHING in response. But if you say, “So tell me your response to ‘Finding Nemo'” – you will get a 10-minute-long in-depth monologue about the pros and cons of the film, and a little compare-and-contrast with other Pixel classics …
It’s hilarious. So I always ask him about what movies he’s seen.
He and Brendan had gone to Lego-Land. He raved about it to me.
“So, Cashel, what was the best part for you about Lego-Land?”
He contemplated this important question. I could FEEL him pondering it, through the phone lines.
Unsurprisingly, Cashel said flatly, “The life-size Darth Vader. Made all out of Legos.”
“Of course. Tell me all about it, please.”
And so Cashel did.
It’s so funny – Cashel’s personality, to my eyes, is so HUGE, in person. He is unavoidable. He has this white head of hair, he is very articulate, he has hand gestures, he is very emphatic and specific … his personality is huge. So it is so funny to me, so jarring, to hear how LITTLE his voice is over the phone. It’s a teeny mouse-voice. I want to squeeze him so tight that he cries out for mercy.
He and Brendan also went to Sea World.
“I got to feed some dolphins.” Then, to make sure that he didn’t exaggerate his role in this activity, Cashel clarified, “Well, Auntie Sheila, what I did was – I put the food on top of the water … and the dolphins could see it from underneath … and then they would come up and get it.”
At one point, Cashel dissolved into hysterical laughter, and said to me, “Isn’t the word ‘INSANE’ so funny, Auntie Sheila? Isn’t it so funny to call someone ‘insane’? ‘You’re INSANE.'” Cashel broke up into hilarious guffaws.
I had to agree. “Insane” is a very funny word. Especially when said in this surprisingly little mouse-voice across 3000 miles.
Cashel was … beyond shocked that it was my birthday. A whole new world opened up for him. A world of unimagined discoveries. Grownups have birthdays too. Auntie Sheila has a birthday. At first, when he heard the news, I was greeted with absolute dead silence from the other end. I could, again, feel him processing the news. Trying to fit it into his world-view.
Then, thrilled, excited, he turned around and shrieked at Brendan, “It’s Auntie Sheila’s birthday today!!!!” (Yes, he actually spoke with exclamation points. I could hear them.)
I heard Brendan say in the background, “I know!”
Immediately, Cashel launched into song. Singing “Happy Birthday” to me, over the phone.
The sound of his voice singing was so adorable, and so excited, and so vulnerable … that I thought my heart would crack. Perhaps it did.
Red – Now tell us how you REALLY feel about Cashel. To repeat myself from a previous post … damn girl you can write.
Best, Terry
On November 10th I called my sister’s house on my only niece’s 4th birthday. The call was punknowingly during her party just right before it was time to sing “Happy Birthday”. She held the phone to her ear while I sang along.
Her uncle (me) could barely keep from crying while he sang Happy Birthday into his cell phone.
In a Big Lots.
2500 miles away.
I know how you feel.
I called a cousin out west not long ago. He’s got a five-year-old.
The five-year-old answered the phone. While we waited for Daddy to come to the phone, he asked me if I wanted to hear his new favorite word.
Yeah, I said.
Fart! He screamed into the phone, and laughed until he was out of breath.
About that time, my cousin picks up, asks what was so funny. I explained about fart, and how it’s a funny word, apparently.
I hear the sigh of a feller who’s heard the same knock knock joke 309 times.
He’s been hooked on that word for five days now, my cousin sighs.
And in the background, I hear the kid chanting at the top of his lungs “Fart Fart Fart.”
I’ll say this: It’s funny from 2,000 miles away.
Reading that post makes me crave a little nephew or niece. I don’t see it happening anytime soon though.
I am fortunate to have baby cousins – ranging in age from 10 months – 9 years…. they’re all amazing.
That was a great post!
Mala:
Yes, there is nothing like having a regular relationship with a little kid.
I can’t imagine my life without Cashel now. Literally. I do not know WHAT my family talked about in the many many years before he arrived.