I entered the Imagination Zone (Not to be confused too much with the infamous Twilight Zone, although there are many similarities) with Cailyn yesterday at the church playground. We had dinner on the grounds after church, and after we ate, while Nani talked with friends, Cailyn and I headed outside. It was just the two of us. Or so I thought. Little did I know that a host of others awaited, making that little playground a teeming metropolis before Cailyn got through.
It started out simply enough. I was just another Grandad out watching his two-year-old play on the swings. She was laughing and enjoying swinging back and forth on the teeter-totter swing thingie we have out there. In fact that became her little girl's chant of the day – "Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth." The battle cry of the swinging teetertotter.
But then it happened. Imagination kicked in. At first I became her Daddy. That probably happened because she wanted me to slide down the slide, and she didn't expect DadDad would be able to do it. So I became Daddy, and magically my power to slide came out. Kind of fun, actually. Except for the part where I get stuck on the second dip and have to give myself an extra push. Then her imagination swept past me like I was standing still and left me breathless. Meaning, of course, that I could hardly breathe when I tried to keep up with her.
Tyrone was dancing when he first showed up. Yep. That's the same kid that showed up at the table while we were coloring and cutting paper the day before. By the way, we asked her parents where she got the name Tyrone for an imaginary friend. April grinned. She knew that one right away. It seems that Tyrone is a character in the cartoon called Backyardigans. A moose or a pig or a penguin or an aardvark or something. I remembered watching that show one time with Josiah. Strange looking creatures. That just made playing with imaginary Tyrone a little bit creepier to me.
Well, yesterday Tyrone was on a roll. He was nothing but a little trouble-maker. "Tyrone gonna get in trouble," Cailyn would cry. "He won't listen to me. He's gonna get ouched." Watch out, Tyrone.
He wasn't only friend out there, though. At one point I was informed that "My friend Lexis is swinging now." That source I knew. Lexie is her cousin in Corpus Christi.
Sadly, she didn't have much time to play with Lexie. Soon she declared, "Have to chase Tyrone," and took off running. She hollered over her shoulder, "Tyrone is running from me. He's not coming to me." I asked why she was chasing him, and she cried back, "He has my toy." Of course. Why didn't I see that. I encouraged Tyrone to give the toy back so they could take turns. He didn't listen to me any better than he did to her. She chased him out into the field and back under the school building. They ran in circles around the pilings until I got dizzy watching them. They did get distracted from running long enough to play around in the dirt. Without missing a beat Cailyn informed me, "I like dirt. I like beaches 'cause they have dirt. Tyrone likes dirt, too." I told him, "Good for you, Tyrone. Dirt is fun."
When they needed a break we all returned to the playground structure where Cailyn Tyrone started watching television. Apparently the only channel he was allowed to watch had the broadcast letters DFG. He was reprimanded several times for switching over. I think he finally wore himself out and fell asleep. But that wasn't such a good move, either. When Cailyn reralized he had dozed off, she slapped the floor and screamed, "Get wake, Tyrone." That didn't completely do the trick, though. So she got him some chocolate milk to help him wake up. Always the consummate hostess, she got some for "all these guys" as well. I hadn't noticed when they all showed up, but there must have been quite a few of them, and they all wanted some chocolate milk. May have to make a quick trip to WalMart if they come back to the house with us.
As the last of the guys was finishing up his chocolate milk, Cailyn suddenly whipped around toward the school building, looking up at the deck. I followed her gaze and of course saw nothing. But she lit up like a Roman candle. This was obviously what she had been waiting for all day. She smiled a smile that took up her whole face. She literally jumped down from the playground structure and squealed in delight. Everything else stopped. Her eyes never left that one spot on the deck. She pointed up and said excitedly, "He's here. I have to go see him." As she took off running for the ramp, I unwound my old DadDad knees and called out, "Who's here?" She delightedly called over her shoulder, "It's Boy. I go run with him now. Come on, DadDad." Ah, of course. Boy. Who else could it be. And what better way to end a perfectly wonderful afternoon than to jog around the school deck with Cailyn and Boy? I never got invited to play with Boy back when he visited my sons. But I was the parent back then. Now I'm … younger?
Isaiah 40:8 says, "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."
Father, thank you for making it possible for me to get old enough to to see things with young eyes. Amen.
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