Reggie

Reggie lives across the hall and 2 doors down. He is 6 years old (that was how he introduced himself to me). Through an amazing turn of events (which included a sluggish, grumpy me one morning and a random roadside meeting) I now take Reggie to school in the morning. Reggie is a bundle of pure energy. There are mornings when he is literally (and I really mean literally) bouncing off the walls on our way down to the car to leave. Reggie has a Spiderman backpack (which I think is SO cool), but Batman is his favorite. In fact, Reggie wants to be Batman when he grows up, and our daily conversations often revolve around what his life will be like when he is Batman (in case you were wondering, it would be pretty cool). Everything is exciting to him..."Look horses! I like horses!" "Look, a white school bus! I've never seen one that color before. I bet they come in all different colors!" "Look! A boy with a backpack! I have a backpack! I bet he's going to school." There is never anything we see that isn't exciting in some way. And, like many boys much older than him, he relives his amazing sports moments often. I still hear about his first day of school during recess when they were playing basketball and a girl went to shoot the ball and he knocked it far, far away "right out of her hands. Isn't that amazing?" I have to leave 20-30 minutes earlier than I used to, but I really don't mind at all. I enjoy starting the morning looking at the world through the eyes of a 6 year old. I too find myself thinking, "I could do so many more things if I were Batman," and I'm starting to notice little things that may seem mundane, but now I think they are very exciting. It's a refreshing way to start my day. Although I do worry that sometime when I'm playing ball toss with my residents, that I'll be hoping for the chance to knock the ball right out of their hands, far, far away so I can brag about it in the car later...