little kids
Went to Chinatown with my family for dinner tonight. Seems like I've been going there a lot lately. It's all for the garlic sauce on the leafy greens....*drools like Homer*
Anyway, at dinner with my mom, dad and "Auntie Sylvia" (the woman my mom has taken as her adopted mom here in the US), a little girl came to our table and waved at me. I waved back and smiled. Turns out she was the daughter of a church friend of Auntie Slyvia. Later the girl came back and whispered something to Auntie Sylvia pointing at me. She sat down at our table and we started to talk about books (she can read chapter books!) because I told her my name was Amelia (I used my full name so that I wouldn't have to explain my nickname and all to Auntie Sylvia) and the girl remarked about Amelia Bedelia. I used to really hate when kids called me that at school when I was little because she was so dumb (though now I realize she was very sincere, just a little blinded by her good heart) and I didn't want to be thought of as dumb. But I hadn't faced this in years and actually smile when the girl said this, because you could tell she loved Amelia Bedelia. In fact, the book she had read was the only one I had ever read, the one in which she hems the dress by cutting off the bottem edge. Hmmm, I could go on a tangent about the conditioning of little girls, but that's not what this post is about.
The little girl moved to the seat next to me as we talked more and more. She has two little turtles the size of a gold dollar. I told her how my bunny rabbit will headbutt you if you stop petting him (he's rather pushy). She though my dad was my husband. It probably had nothing to do with age, and was simply that he is white and I am probably white too, so we must be married....hehe. My dad took it as a compliment to looking young (he actually looks pretty good for 54!).
Then she pointed at the table where her family was sitting (oh, her name is Angelina and she's in kindergarten) and to her "brother". She said, "He accepted Jesus Christ today." Then she put her hand next to her mouth and leaned in and whispered, "But my grandma didn't." She stopped and looked at me with her head to the side then asked, "Do you believe in Jesus Christ?" I smiled and said that I did, and my dad said he did too. We left it at that. I was briefly thinking of then saying, "I also believe in Baha'u'llah," but she changed the subject and I didn't want to change it back.
Anyway, the whole thing got me to thinking about kids and how innocent they are. So smart. Her english and cantonese were both impecable. She was so precise in what she wanted to say, no frilly frally. And she was so sincere in everything, from her books, to her turtles, to her canker sore. She even made a little joke. She asked if I could speak Chinese, and when I said, "A little little litle bit," she said, "Shu shu." Apparently that means a little bit in Cantonese.
She made my night. I love the brightness of children. I'm always amazed that they pop out of nowhere and just talk to me all the time. And I mean all the time. Like daisies. I think it's cuz I smile at them, and when they talk to me, I talk to them as if they were a person my age, just a different reading level perhaps. But dude, I still read chapter books. :)