"Hey Gummy! You have some crackers!"
"That's right, Walter. You want me to open them?"
"Why you have crackers?" he asked, sounding a little confused, in a charming sort of way.
"I thought you might like them." I said.
OK, he said as he held them up to me. "I like your hat."
It took me a minute, after he held the package of Keebler crackers up two inches from my eyeballs, to realize that he thought the little white haired elf on the package looked like me.
Every elfish old woman needs a Walter in her life. Walter is a giggle-maker. Just like his father before him. He is a giggle maker and a heart melter and a kiss giver. He will be playing with his cars or his Transformer Rescue Bots, humming some little ditty he hears swirling in his creative head, and out of the blue he will stop and say, "Gummy?"
"Yes, Walter?"
"I love you."
He will repeat this about every half hour, or maybe every seven minutes.
It's like he cannot contain the love and it pops out, like those first kernels that explode in our hot air popcorn popper. Pretty soon there is a bowl full of fluffy pure aromatic love in my lap and I scoop him up and smother him with kisses and snuggle love, which he frankly does not very much care for.
Walter is exactly the kind of kid you would spend a lot of money buying gifts for, just for the pleasure of experiencing his response. You have never seen a more joyful little soul receiving a gift. He scrunches his shoulders up to his ears and hops up and down, squealing. He pumps his arms down to the ground as he jumps. Seriously, if you're having a bad day, go buy something at the dollar store and give it to Walter.
Tonight we got a good dose of Walter Wonder because today is his birthday. Four candles.
Happy Birthday, Buddy.
Any many, many more!
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