It's not very far from the sofa to the little table at the end of the
sofa. As a matter of fact, I can cover it in two steps. Unless of
course, I'm trying to watch TV, and the remote control is on that
little end table. Then, well, the sun is closer.
For 'lil Langley, who turns the big 1 on Monday, getting to that little
table seemed to take forever. However, the magical, noise- making car
keys happened to be on that table today, so she needed to get there,
and fast.
She can get there by crawling. It's gotten her places before. Crawling
has been good to her. Never lets her down, very dependable. However,
its time for an upgrade. Trade it in for something nicer, more
aerodynamic, and maybe with better ground clearance.
Sure, she can make it there walking, with me holding on to one of her tiny hands, but I can't hold it forever, right?
So I let go....
She looks up at me, then back at the keys. Back at me. Back to the
keys. She hasn't realized yet, ..... she's standing on her own.
The first step was easy, she did it without thinking about it. Sort of
like in the near future,... sixteen years old, flying down the freeway
at eighty miles an hour, applying mascara and talking on the cell
phone. Easy.
That second step was different, but still exciting. At least it was for me.
There was a thought process involved. It finally hit her that she was
on her own. She also realized she still wanted those keys. Her right
foot, very tentatively, eased out in front of her, searching for, then
finding, solid ground. Reminded me of seeing someone on a frozen over
pond, testing the ice out if front of them before taking that next
step. I was looking around for Lassie holding a long tree branch in his
mouth.
Finally setting her foot down, then swinging the other around to catch
up, she turned, looked at me and smiled. I was suddenly glad I had left
my keys on the end table. I was so happy. More so even, than the
weekend last month, when for whatever reason, I had free HBO.
Two careful steps later, keys in hand, she plops down to the floor. Mission accomplished. She's happy, I'm estactic.
With her content to play on the floor for a while, I run to the
computer to fire off emails to the grandparents and order more keys.
I'll happily buy her all the keys she
wants...until she turns sixteen.
David Wayne is an aspiring humor columnist. You can read more of his articles at http://www.davidwaynedotcomedy.blogspot.com
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