I spent the day with my youngest grandson. About nine hours in all. Everything was cool, that was his favorite word, we had a ball.

He sat in the floor of the barn, took out all the socket wrenches out of the toolbox. Put them in a circle, put his Batman inside, and called it Tick-a-locks.

He had on his Bengals hat, red pants and red shirt. He took my hand, and said, "Papaw come outside." and showed me a hole he had made in the dirt.

"Are you digging for worms?" I asked. "No," he said, "I'm looking for a big dinosaur bone. "Ain't that cool, Papaw?" "Yes" I said. I guess he forgot to mention the flower that was gone.

We rode bicycles for a while, then had a bite to eat. We played ball out in the yard, now a day like that is hard to beat.

Now he has this thing about making a pinkie promise, that's hooking our two pinkies together, and saying, "Buddy's Forever!" Then he said, "Papaw, how long is that?" I said, "That my boy is a long time, that is until the first of never."

He is only four years old, so he won't remember this day for long, but I know I will. That boy lights up my whole being, there are no words to explain how that boy makes me feel.

By: Ned Nunn

2001