Tuesday, October 13, 2015

My little amigo

Over the past year I've made friends with a little boy from Guatemala. His daddy brings him to the book store every now and then, and since he's only 4 years old and hasn't started school he doesn't speak any English yet.

 I'm still working at learning Spanish so I always take the time to chat with them as much as I'm able (the father's English isn't much better than my Spanish so we struggle a bit sometimes).

A few months ago the little guy came in with a cast on his right hand. There was some sort of accident (I'm not entirely sure what kind but I think it involved a lawn mower) and the poor baby got his hand mangled and ended up losing the little finger on that hand.

He's going to be ok. There have since been two surgeries and now he's in physical therapy to regain use of that hand. Whenever I see him now, I say to him (in Spanish), "Here's my big brave friend! How are you?" And he giggles and is too bashful to answer. His dad says he always looks for me first thing and gets upset if I'm not at work. He's such a sweetheart. And I spoil him as much as I can, giving him stickers and little toys left over from events in our children's department. I also take him over to the cafe in our store and buy him cupcakes and cookies.

 Last night when he came in I told him to pick out a snack and he chose a Rice Krispy treat. When his dad asked him, "What do you say?" he looked at his feet and whispered in a tiny little voice "Gracias..."

My heart melted right there on the spot.


8 comments:

  1. Poor boy; he looks to be coping OK. I did hear once that Spanish will eventually take over from English as the main language of the USA. Maybe he needn't bother learning English.

    My youngest son once got lost in the 'jungle' in Guatemala. He'd gone looking for some ruined temple, and lost his sense of direction. He was wandering around for days.

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    1. There is definitely a trend towards a dual English /Spanish national language! It's one of the reasons I'm learning Spanish.

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  2. You are good soul Jennifer. I bet he can't wait every day to meet you.

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  3. He is cute. Spanish is difficult. Its spoken so quickly, I'm always confused.

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    1. It IS spoken terribly quickly! That's been one of my major stumbling blocks to learning it!

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  4. What a cute little fellow! And how nice of you to befriend him Jennifer! Do Guatemalans give their children names? If he hasn't got a name I give you permission to call him Yorkshire!

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    1. He has a name, it's the Spanish word for "Messiah" and I have no idea how to spell it. I think I shall call him Yorkshire instead in your honor! :)

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