When I say it's You I like

I feel pretty disconnected from kids today.  I work in a nursing home, I socialize with peers, I don’t have any little family members around.  Where I would once cast a skeptical eye, I find myself associating more with those who see a baby as a complete marvel, as they are enraptured with the novelty of interaction with such a human being.

A few months ago I found myself in a social situation with a child under 10.  I quickly tried to recall rough guidelines for interaction: Be honest.  Be interested.  Don’t just talk; do something.

I was pleased within the past year to find the following in my “Keep Forever” box in the attic.  

en early premonition to wear sunscreen every day

Giving me satisfaction to see this was the thought that participating in art today, more so than the satisfaction I might gain pleasing any other human being on the planet, I might please my 5-year old (?) self.  

When you have 7 minutes sometime, watch Mister Rogers melt a Congressman's heart in his defense of funding for public broadcasting to the US Senate, which was in jeopardy of being cut.  Following Mr. Roger's testimony, not only was funding not cut, but it was increased.   

"When I say it's you I like, I'm talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed." - Mister Rogers

"...If the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children." - Madeleine L'Engle

"Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels.  But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young..." - Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix