Wonder Boy

By Bonnie J. Collins
Web Exclusive

I am honored to have the gift of a four-year-old grandnephew (and he is indeed grand, with his quick mind, constant curiosity, and amazing memory). Jeffrey comes to visit me for "two days in a row," he says, holding up two fingers with a look of glee. His blue eyes sparkle with anticipation, for he knows we have some sort of adventure every time he visits.

Jeffrey does indeed gather moments of wonder from our times together. I think he is storing such moments for future reference in his bag of life adventures. As a 59-year-old "great-aunt," with my own full bag of adventures, his visits are a time of great sharing for me, although he is not aware that I am gathering my moments of wonder from him as much as he is gathering from me.

We often end our first day together sitting in the hot tub (or "hot pool," as he calls it). It was during this tradition that we developed our "Wondering Game." With his arms stretched back resting on the sides of the tub, Jeffrey sits in his favorite corner surrounded by bubbles and mist, looks up at the stars, and begins to wonder out loud.

"I wonder where the hot pool's mist comes from and why the bubbles feel so good on my back," he says, with a look that says, "I know your answer, but I want to hear it again."

I tell him, "Maybe the mist comes from cold air and hot air meeting together like good friends." He grins at that idea. And I say, "Maybe the bubbles feel so good on your back because they help your muscles to relax and also maybe it is because we are having a good talk together." The grin gets bigger.

"I wonder where Cookie [his grandma's cat] is now that he has died?" is the next thing he wonders aloud about. "Maybe there is an animal heaven," he says to me in a way that sounds like a question but isn't really being asked as one. This leads into a discussion of wondering how old his great-grandpa is now. (His great-grandpa died last fall.) I suggest that maybe great-grandpa isn't growing old any longer. His response is "I wonder why?"

I can only respond with, "Maybe when you die you no longer grow older. But I wonder about what it is like after you die too."

At this point Jeffrey abruptly concludes our wondering game. He tips his head back and looks at the stars as his says, in a little boy's voice that resonates with ancient wisdom, "Wondering is fun, and I think 'maybe' is a good word."