John is now Three

Today I was feeling sad from the sudden death of my sister-in-law yesterday and still recovering from the flu, when I was asked to take care of John, the three-year-old son of my African niece from Sierra Leone. She was taking a final exam in nursing school and the day care center at school was not available for her today. Reluctantly I said yes but was glad I did.

John is a three-year-old who does not play by himself. He followed me wherever I went in the house. I got a few things done but mostly played with him, silly little games that only a three-year-old and an old man want-to-be three can understand. One of the games was pretending that a small piece of plastic, probably something from a game, was a monster and we would trade it back and forth.

Our play was interrupted by phone calls about funeral arrangements for my sister-in-law and my wife coming home from work very sick, probably with the same flu that I had. Also John was not interested in TV, which usually works for a little free time, so we played.

I got a chance to play my “you are three and I am free” game. It works every time since ‘three’ and ‘free’ are the same word for a 3 year old.

After his mom picked him up I realized that a three year old was just the medicine I needed today for my sadness and illness. My spirits are lifted and I can now move on.

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