Catherine Sevenau

Opener of doors, teller of tales, family scribe.

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A Love Story

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Sweet Scoops ~ While waiting by the register for my sundae at Sweet Scoops, a pint-sized child walks up next to me to where the paper napkins are. He’s not quite tall enough to reach them, and I catch the wire container just before he flips it off the shelf.

“May I help you with a napkin?” I ask.
“Yes, please.”
“One or two?”
“Just one, please.”
“By the looks of your face, you might need two.”
“No, one is fine, thank you.”
“One it is then.”

He scrubs the chocolate off his face with the small white square as he wanders back to his table outside where he’s sitting with a woman, who I assume is his grandmother.

I get my sundae and sit at the inside table near the window. We study each other through the glass, and the next thing I know, he leads her in to join me. I offer her a chair while he stands next to us. We introduce ourselves. It turns out she’s his great-aunt, and they are there as he’d fallen off the climbing bars at school and bonked his head. She was the one to pick him up, and being a great-aunt, knew that an ice cream cone always makes a sore head better. I’m grateful I don’t have to fall off a jungle gym to have ice cream.

I ask him where he goes to school and he says, Montessori. I tell him my son Jon went there a long time ago, but he’s 45 years old now.

Shocked, he says, “WAIT! That’s not possible! You look like you’re 50!”
I laugh and tell him I also have a 14-year-old grandson who used to be his age.
He said, “WHAT? That’s not possible either!”
His aunt asks him if he’d like to tell me how old he was.
“I’m four!” he pipes up.
“I’m amazed. I’d have guessed you were five.”

We chat about his choice of schools for kindergarten next year, of which there are several, the pros and cons of some of them, that his parents couldn’t come for him today as they are working, and that he has two grandpas and two grandmas.

Throughout all of this, he’s worked his way down to the final tip of his cone, pops it in his mouth, and says, “I’m done. May I have another napkin please?”
“Would you like me to get it for you?”
“Yes, please.”
“One or two?” I ask.
“Two, please.”

He wipes his face clean and his aunt gets him a small cup of water because all this conversation made him thirsty. They are ready to leave, so he and I smile at one another and shake hands goodbye. I tell him I hope to run into him again, as I’ve fallen head over heels for this small brown-haired boy. What I really wanted to do was give him a kiss on the cheek, but I didn’t. As it was our first date, I didn’t want to embarrass him or seem too forward. I also wanted to tell him that if he ever needed a third grandma, even if it was just for a chat and an ice cream cone, I was available. I hope our paths cross again. We have a lot more we could talk about, and perhaps I would tell him of my love for him.

© Feb 2018, Catherine Sevenau.
All rights reserved.

Published in the Sonoma Sun, Valentine’s Day 2018

Comments

  1. Somewhere just across our southern border lives another little boy with all of the grace and charm of Catherine’s little boy.

    Our White Elephant thrift store is located about half way between Tucson, AZ, and Nogales, Sonora, and is very well known through-out the region. So, on any given day it is not unusual to see visitors from Mexico at the store. Unfortunately, is it also not unusual to encounter small not-well-behaved children from both sides of the border. A whole lot of them do not inspire my grandmotherly instincts, therefore the event that transpired about a year ago is quite memorable.

    As I walked in the door I looked up to see a small Mexican boy in the check-out line with his mother. He spotted me at the same time and bestowed upon me a BIG smile, which I returned.

    Then, without further ado he raced over to the stacks of baskets, got one out of a stack with a struggle for a little boy, and promptly brought it to me, with another wonderful smile. What a charmer he was… I thanked him in English and Spanish and another smile, although I really wanted to hug him, big time.

    Needless to say, he really made my day!

  2. Oh, Cathy! I love this story. Warmed my heart and brought a smile to my face. I, too, hope you see him again soon.

  3. If you see him again, perhaps he’ll ask you about sex and Hitler and all those fun things you have experience discussing. Because at that age, curiosity abounds.

    Love your writing. Love reading this. There is a beautiful, glorious intimacy you bring to the telling. Thanks for that.

  4. This is one of my favorite things you’ve ever written. I hope you continue to repost it every Valentine’s Day, ‘cause I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of reading it and re-reading it.

  6. I’m lying here sleepless in Tel Aviv and enjoying your lovely story. I’m so happy I came across this just now. Thank you as always Catherine for your heartwarming stories. Shalom

  7. Delightful! Did my heart good to read this. Your writing is very pleasurable. (And also, sometimes amazing the things you discover and write about your family.) Quite a smart and thoughtful 4 year old.

  9. I absolutely adore kids. Especially kids like your guy. Thanks for the smile & making my heart full!

  11. Cathy, this is another beautiful story and you write it in a way that makes the reader feel like he/she is right there with you.