“What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.”
— Mother Teresa
One of my favorite sidekicks is turning 6 years old today.
This little girl carries herself with a skip in her step, a smile on her face and gratitude in her heart. She is pure, radiant sunshine to those lucky enough to be in her orbit.
The finest compliment a little child can receive is from the adults helping to form the early education building blocks. One of the classroom assistants told me recently, “I help with one child who needs extra helping hands. Some children in the classroom back away from him. Landry shares her books, her supplies and her smiles with him as though he is just like everyone else.”
At home, Landry’s parents have always encouraged curiosity, both quiet time and give-it-your-all-play time. There is outdoor exploration and work, as well as indoor chores. Structure and discipline and respect within the family has always existed, and it shows.
Turning 6 is a very big deal, Landry told me not long ago. “We have my brother’s birthday, then my cousin’s birthday, and then Christmas and THEN my birthday. I will be 6 and I will be bigger and I might even get to stay up until midnight,” she said with a giggle and a sparkle in her blue eyes. We are on the floor, putting a puzzle together, and Landry helps me with little hints on what color pieces to look for so I don’t fall behind.
There are people who set big goals as the years unfold: travel, rare experiences, an accumulation of riches. Today, lighting 6 candles on the cake of a little girl who looks up to me with pure love and an incredibly grateful heart reminds me I have everything anyone could ever hope to hold.
When she crawls up on my lap and hugs my neck, I know these moments will shift into a different form in no time. Right now, she tells me she has missed me even though only three days have gone by without a warm hug. “I love you, Gigi,” she whispers as I cover us with a cozy blanket and reach for a book to read together.
Happy hearts, 60 years apart, and the child’s love builds a bridge to a second sweet childhood experience, more valuable than silver and gold.
