A Phone Call From 7 Year Old Cameron, 2/26/13

With the assistance of his mother Maria, our grandson Cameron called to ask some questions regarding a school project he is working on for his 2nd grade class.

His assignment is to write some stories as best they can be recalled from when he was 1 or 2 years old and he asked if I could help refresh his memory. Gladly and from the heart, I spoke of taking him to the toy store when he was 18 months and 2 years old.

I described how he would happily toddle into the toy store as I held his hand, and once in the store he was free to look around and select a special toy that would become his. When we would arrive, he would often go to a communal train set they kept running to amuse the children and he would have a good time playing there.

Then Cameron would select a special toy, a big or little truck or a forklift or something similar and hold it joyfully in his tiny hands as I would pay for it. We would then take it back to our home where he would show it to his grandmother Anne and then play with it to his heart's content.

When it came time for him to go home, he would carry his toy out the door with him. After awhile, he had four identical forklifts he had chosen, and he named all four of them. I was never able to figure out how he could tell them apart.

While Cameron was in our home, Anne or I would put two vanilla wafers in his hands, one in each hand. He loved to eat those wafers and often came back for seconds or thirds.

I described for Cameron how he loved for he and I to be pirates together. He would be Captain Jack and I would be his first mate and together we would sail the seven seas from my office in the loft upstairs as we looked out at the ocean.

At other times as we looked at the ocean, Cameron would point out boats to his grandmother and me and ask about them. His favorite boats were usually sail boats with colorful sails.

And lastly, Cameron loved to draw pictures. Because he was so small, I would lift him onto my lap and he would draw pictures at my desk, using my pens and markers. On occasion, he would then cut those pictures up into small pieces using my scissors.

Anne bought him his own non permanent markers, although he still preferred mine, and a safe scissors with which to cut.

In any case, it was always such a joy to have Cameron with us, and from which we have many happy memories.

Dick