High Compliments

Abby loves to be "grandmothered". I think she would have relished being an only child who could be pampered and spoiled. For the past several years she has had certain favorite people in our ward. Years ago it was Brother Bluemell, an elderly man who was our home teacher. She sat with him every Sunday and they were the best of friends. When he and his wife moved, Abby was very sad. She did rally though and found others who were willing to give her the undivided attention she so craves.

She only sits with people who no longer have children at home. She wants to be the one and only. Her current favorite is a wonderful woman in our ward who has taught primary for many years and is as sweet as can be. She is perfect for Abby because she is a young, energetic grandma and not ancient and nigh-unto-death as Abby seems to believe. This sweet woman brings little things for Abby to play with every Sunday and they write notes back and forth.

Today Lyle and I saw some of the notes and just couldn't stop laughing (and blushing). As expected, Abby's friend wrote her very sweet notes, full of the compliments Abby just lives for. Knowing Abby, the note she wrote in return was meant as a compliment of the highest degree. I can just see her handing her the note with her sweet smile and a little hug.








If Lyle and I die laughing, hopefully she'll come to our funerals too! The preceeding note said, "When you go to the old home, I will bring my kids to visit you."

Another funny Abby story happened the other day over at her school when I was helping out with some timed reading tests. I had a timer set for 3 minutes and the kids needed to read lists of words and see how many words they could read in the set time. I got to test about 10 kids and as usual, Abby had her own unique style. Her testing went something like this:

Me: Abby, we're doing a timed test, so you need to just keep reading the words and if there's one you don't know, I can help you. O.K.? Alright you can start.

Abby: car, run, fan, there, right, house, suddenly, happen, farmer........Hmmm, it makes you wonder what suddenly happened to the farmer, doesn't it?

Me: Abby, this is a timed test. Keep going.

Abby: O.K....that, few, eat, horse, bring, friend.........Ha! That's kind of funny. Did the horse bring a friend? Did the horse go to a party?

Me: Abby. The timer is going. Just keep reading the list.

Abby: O.K.... film, book, port, live......Hmm, you could say "live" like I live in a house or you could say "live" like that spider is a-"live"! Is either one right?"

Me: Yes, Abby, either one is right. Please keep going!

Abby: O.K.... feast, teacher, reason, wonder, verify, cancel, fabulous.....Hmmm, Mom, I know you don't want me to stop, but I just have to tell you something really fast. I'm noticing that these words are getting a little harder. Just to warn you, I might start going just a tad bit s l o w e r ... That's smart, don't you think?

Me: Very smart. Time's up.