My cousin, Christopher, recently came to visit, along with his mother, my mother and our grandmother. The last time I had seen Chris, he was an average-sized elementary school student with a cherubic face and sweet, if mischievous nature.
Well now he’s sixteen, and while the mischievousness is under control, the sweet nature remains. Additional in the transformation, the small boy's body has been replaced with that of a 5’11”, 230 pound high school football team lineman that he is.
He’s a great kid, though not perfect. He let his grades slip a bit and lost one of the scholarship offers that he’s received in this, his junior year. My aunt, most assuredly, is making him pay for his transgression and minimizing the chances of a repeat.
Watching him assist our grandmother, who is a near invalid, gives me hope for at least one member of American youth, however. Also, he put up with five ornery old ladies for six days—my great-aunt and I included—with admirable patience and diplomacy. No mean feat, that.
Out of the Mouth of a Babe
Chris told us of a conversation he had had with some of his teammates. The teammates had discovered that on many college campuses, women outnumber the men by some given ratio. They were relishing these numbers. Chris’ response was classic: “You know what it means if the women outnumber the men? It means that the men aren’t going to college enough. How you gonna get to be around those women if you’re not there?”
My cousin, the genius. Chris will make some lucky girl a great husband someday.
