Letter: About Growing Up

When I grew up, I always wanted to do something great, be somebody special.

Now that I am grown up, maybe that’s why I play with the Jurassic World Dominion Epic Attack dinosaurs, complete with chomp and roar actions, its jaws closing on Bluey Friends Coco The Pink Poodle, which canine stuffed animal I rescue just in time.

While wife Charlotte shopped for things more in line with housekeeping – coffee grinder, deodorant, and anything with daisies on it – I wandered on down the aisle of the child’s toy section, and right there, right in front of me, right at nearly eye level (and I’m an adult size six-foot-five-inches) was a book with Charlotte’s name on it. And the book next to it had my name on the cover, presumably because ‘D’ comes after ‘C.’

Advertised for “Any Child” – which would be me – there was a shiny gold sticker at the top declaring “Space To Add Child’s Name.”

But our names were already there.

And, notably, the two books, side-by-side, were not for Charlotte and Daniel; or for Charlotte and Demetrius, or Dylan, Dakota, Dashiell, Deveraux, or Dominic.

Nope. The books were for Charlotte and David.

That’s pretty special.

Wondering what Charlotte’s personalized book said, I read it, right there in the store, cover to cover, all 28 pages. True, only half of those pages had words on them, the other half of the book depicting cute farm animals and a bonus page to color in Charlotte’s friends.

And it was on the very last page – before the coloring section – that I discovered what growing up is really about.

“Charlotte, you’re my everything!

I love our time together.

Each day, each night, I love you more,

Now, always, and forever.”

Growing up is about being someone who makes someone feel even more special than they already are.

So says the cute little book with Charlotte’s name on it.