March 13th, 2025
It was an interesting day. My wife, Karin, was sick, so I took charge of our grandson, Asher, for most of the day, from the time he woke up until midafternoon. Asher is four years old. He’s a feisty lad. The boy is full of energy and eager to do things. That’s healthy, but it is also exhausting for an old man like me. I took Asher out for breakfast at a 1950’s-style diner. He consumed scrambled eggs, sausages, and pancakes. Asher is adept with a knife and fork. After that, we spent well over an hour at the local library. Asher spent most of the time playing interactive games on a huge touch screen. We did actually read a book while there. Then we went to a playground.
It was a warm spring morning, so we went to Kayla’s Place, a large playground that attracts dozens of children on a good day. I expected to spend an hour there with Asher. The visit lasted far longer than that. Why?
Asher found a girl.
From what I’ve seen, Asher does not actively look for a girl to play with. He just finds them, or sometimes they find him. That’s his karma. In this particular case, Asher noticed a young lady wearing a lavender shirt with sparkly stars on the front of it. She was carrying a stuffed animal: Rocky from Paw Patrol. Asher just happens to have the same stuffed animal at home, so he casually mentioned this fact to the little girl. He gave her his patented smile with the prominent dimple on his right cheek. After that, they became inseparable.
The girl’s caregiver, who I assume was her grandfather, was there to watch over her, just like I was observing Asher. I tried to strike up a conversation with the man, but he would have none of it. There was no sign of solidarity from him. I don’t know why. In any case, he was continually busy advising his young protege. The guy had a nearly constant monologue going:
“Okay, Sweetie, give the other children some space. That’s good. Thank you. Now, don’t be bossy. That’s better. Thank you. Watch out for the little person next to you. That’s good, Pumpkin. Thank you.”
This went on and on and on. I don’t hover over Asher like that. I watch him, but I let him do his thing unless it somehow seems unsafe. Actually, when Asher and I are together, he generally does most of the talking. He has a lot to say.
Asher and the lavender girl wandered all through the playground. They went down the slide together. She pushed Asher on the swing, with her caregiver providing a great deal of unsolicited advice to her. Then Asher pushed her on the swing. They crawled through a tunnel that looked like a big caterpillar. They both fell over inside it and laid next each other laughing. At one point, after riding on top of a couple giant frogs that rested on large springs, Asher came up to her and stood in front of her grinning. The girl asked him,
“Why are you standing so close to me?”
That was an innocent question, but it was one that she probably won’t need to ask ten years from now. She will know why.
They were playing on some parallel bars. Asher fell off and she helped him to get back up. Then she took his arm, and they walked hand in hand around the playground.
I thought to myself, “They sure aren’t wasting any time.”
The girl’s grandfather watched with some concern. I glanced at him and said,
“Wait until they’re teenagers.”
He did not respond to that. however, he suggested to the little girl that she play with other kids. She gave him a cold stare that said, “I’m busy here. Do you mind?”
After a while, the girl asked her caregiver for a snack. He pulled out a bag of arrowroot biscuits. Who buys arrowroot biscuits, and why would they do so? They were basically cookies, and the girl offered Asher one. He ate several. I am sure the grandfather assumed that I was starving Asher.
The girl convinced Asher that they should play a game where each of them was a Paw Patrol characters. Asher seemed uninterested, but the girl was adamant. She told Asher to chase her. He did.
After several laps around the playground, she wore his ass out. She kept running but he slowed to a walk. I guess he should get used to this sort of thing. He will no doubt be chasing some other girl in the future.
Asher came up to me and took my hand. I asked him,
“What do you want?”
He replied, “I want to go home.”
He started for the exit, completely ignoring the little girl.
I told him, “Say goodbye.”
The girl was sobbing, and her caregiver was unsuccessfully trying to console her. Asher waved to her and said, “Bye!”
No response from the girl. Apparently, he left her brokenhearted.
I never thought all of this would start so soon.
Frank is Emptiness 