Published April 25, 2009 12:46 am - I've only known Henry for less than two months but feel compelled to keep in touch with the guy.
Sometimes you just overlook foibles of another ROBERT LEBZELTER column for April 26, 2009
Star Beacon
I've only known Henry for less than two months but feel compelled to keep in touch with the guy.
It’s not because he's the kind of person who will do anything for you. He isn’t. It’s not because he's a great conversationalist. His vocabulary is extremely limited.
The guy is pretty much self-absorbed. His needs appear to be paramount, no matter what challenges others are facing.
He simply doesn't care.
And to tell you the truth, sometimes, just sometimes, Henry doesn't smell very good.
Yet I remain a friend to Henry despite his carefree feelings about his hygiene, despite his narcissism.
Part of the reason is I believe he will outgrow these tendencies, hopefully. The other reason is Henry is my grandson.
You have to forgive the guy for his foibles. He was only born on March 2. Plus he's learned a lot in the past six or so weeks, probably more than you have.
I first saw his fine back of the head with thick brown hair that a grandfather would envy the day after he was born. He was moody but fairly quiet.
At that point we were thrilled when he would open those baby-blues for just a second. “He's got his eyes open, he's looking at me!” someone would say. Everyone would run over to see.
A day later we had to bid adieu to the Henrymeister and go back to the trenches of everyday work. When I was a kid reading stories about kids with grandparents, they were always gray, smiling and operated nearby farms.
Well, we aren't all gray, we rarely smile and we don't own a farm. And we live better than three hours away from the little guy.
It's a funny thing about that. We would see son Derek and daughter-in-law Jess (not Jessie) every few months and talk a few times a week on the phone. But suddenly with Henry there, we must visit every few weeks. In between, we want to hear him make sounds on the phone.
Wonder if that is something they didn't bargain for when they decided to have Henry?
So within a few weeks, we were back to visit Henry and now he had his eyes open a lot. He liked to suck on his fist. Where he once hated his bath, these days he didn't mind.
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