He Wears His Heart On His Sleeve

One year for Christmas, I gave the boys my time. For one or two hours each month, I arranged to visit their house for the sole purpose of playing. I remember those times fondly and grieve the fact that I don’t get to play much now that I live in South Carolina. I got to play on Saturday night, though, and I had a blast...and I even got to go on an adventure with Henry and return victorious!

When it came time for supper, Jack and Henry decided they wanted pizza; Charlie decided on a Happy Meal. Henry thought he knew where Little Caesars was, so I challenged him to see if he could get me there. Getting into the car, I told Hen that he was going to have to give me directions at every turn. Shaking his hands as if warming up for a game, Hen said, “I’m so nervous!” But he told me every turn—describing in detail what we would see along the way—and I felt so very proud because I know my way through landmarks, too. I’m terrible with street names!

At one point, Henry was a little uncertain, but he didn’t lead me astray. Realizing that he had led me to the right road, he raised his hands in sheer joy and delight and triumphantly exclaimed, “Yes! I did it! I got us here on the first try!” He! Was! So! Excited!

That’s the thing with Hen. He wears his heart on his sleeve. When Hen is happy, his whole body is happy. When Hen is tired, his whole body shuts down. When Hen thinks something is funny, you will think it’s funny, too. When Hen laughs, you will join him because his laughter is contagious.

I laughed going through the drive-thru at McDonalds. I let Hen pay for his brother’s Happy Meal and he thought that simple action was the greatest thing. He giggled when the drive thru worker handed him his change. He said to me, “I’ve never done this before!” But he certainly did sound like a professional drive-thru visitor when he told the next worker that he did want a straw and then thanked her for her service.

By the end of our adventure together, Henry and I had garnered one happy meal, two large pizzas, two orders of crazy bread, and one box of Dunkin Donut holes. We had also had a very serious conversation about credit cards, interest payments, bank accounts, and debt, and Hen had indicated quite passionately that it was dumb to buy things if you didn’t have the cash to pay. Once again, I was proud :-).

I enjoyed my adventure with Henry, and I’m grateful for the one-on-one time I was able to spend with him. To see him smile, or to hear him laugh, or to feel him spontaneously squeeze my waste for a hug, or to have him crawl into my chair to snuggle, is worth every mile it takes to get there and fills me with that same feeling of triumph that he expressed when he realized he had successfully led the way to pizza that night.