Wrist
I had a lot of fun with Michael when he was very young and familiarizing himself with his surroundings. We just moved into our apartment in Mountain View, California as we settled into a new community and I settled into my special position within the Bay Area Electronic Data Processing (BAEDP) department under our manager – Sally Dudley. I’d been selected from many applicants to join her team and enjoy exposure to a multitude of disciplines – eventually selecting the one that best suited me. Fortunately, my location was a single floor immediately beneath the offices of now famous – Bill Hewlett and David Packard. I even interrupted Bill Hewlett one day as I traversed his floor and almost ran headlong into him. In any case, we were furnishing our apartment as quick as we could with the discretionary funds that were available to us. It was slow accumulating; and we sat on our food storage with blankets over them for a sofa. We slept on a borrowed bed until we could afford our own. And we used a borrowed patio table and benches as our dining table. Books remained in what I called ‘early marriage’ style – resting between erect cinder blocks holding their painted shelves. The books were our treasures from our years in school and amounted to most of our accumulated things.
I would drive the twenty or thirty minutes to work and back each day. Any discretionary time was consumed in our efforts to enhance our living conditions and fulfill our church callings in the ward. With a single young toddler, we fit the description of a couple anxiously engaged in advancing their circumstances and home. Michael had just begun toddling about prior to our move to California; and he was advancing from a prior ‘rug rat’, crawling about on his stomach with flailing hands and feet. As I watched his progress there in our apartment, he was fast graduating into the category of ‘curtain climber’. He could now toddle about reliably on chubby feet and legs exploring the environment ten inches above where he’d been previously confined. And explore he did! I often teased those observing our young son that he’d recently developed a reach extending about ten feet above the floor.
He seemed to pull anything he could grasp with those chubby but strong hands down from their elevated perch. We often had to move things to a higher elevation and remove curtains from his clutch. Otherwise, he’d apply the full weight of his person and pull-down curtains from their lofty locations. Drawers and cupboards were clasped to protect them from his chaotic examination. A single cupboard was provided that he could empty to his heart’s content and our continued tolerance. I suppose my greatest surprise at his climbing ability was when I once discovered him climbing to the top of our dining bench and then to the surface of our dining/patio table. After a short perusal of the table, he then began to call out for someone to retrieve him. He’d not yet figured out how to get down without injury. Watching as he yelled out, I observed his demeanor amid a troubling circumstance. Increased volume and frequency finally summoned his parent and his temporary adventure was complete.
As Michael grew and we entered our new home in Corvallis, Oregon he was beginning to communicate. Though he’d not developed a command of the language nor formed complete sentences or paragraphs, I was beginning to understand his speech and comprehend his efforts to express himself. He was now frequently hampered by his inability to covey his intent to his parents. My wife who spent her days at home with him was much more adept and comprehending his gibberish and intent. I often used her ability to translate his prattle into English that I could understand. Spending my days outside his purview, I was often unable to follow his efforts to communicate with me. His efforts to formulate the words and pronunciations were undoubtedly as difficult for his young mind as they were for my not so young mind.
As we were engaged in reading a child’s book one day together, he pointed to the wrist just up from his hand and announced that his hand ankle hurt. Ignoring his ache for a moment, I was utterly amazed at his mindful expression to use advanced simile to identify his wrist as the ankle to his hand! His use of the similarity and juxtaposition of his ankle to covey his wrist was absolutely illuminating and I sat impressed by this young toddler in my lap. He’d naturally utilized what skills he had to communicate with his father and I hugged his little body with the pride of an impressed father. Unknown to him, he’d commenced the enlightenment of his soul and the challenge of his life. At such a young, innocent and righteous time!
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