Above is a picture of my son, and his new friend, Gandhi.
And while Gandhi is an unusual name to be bestowed upon a blue seahorse by a
three-year old, I assure you that he came up with it all on his own. But in
case you’re not inclined to believe me, here is the story…
Last week we took Eli and his cousin Emma to a local
amusement park, and after a day spent spinning on the kiddie rides and
splashing in the waterpark (the kids, not us. We spent it waiting, and wading,
after them), we were heading towards the exit when the kids decided they wanted
to play a game. A quick survey of the area revealed only one that didn’t
involve guns, darts, or skill: a little fishing game where “everybody wins” –
so long as they pay the fairly reasonable $2 per turn.
Eli took his pole and proceeded to “hook” three fish at
once. Never a fisherman myself, I was impressed with his skill. I was also
thinking that that $2 suddenly seemed VERY reasonable as I proudly watched him
reel in his catch. But my wife had other thoughts and was in the process of
warning him that he could have only one – and just as the guy running the game
was saying, “That’s okay, he can have them all…” Eli heeded his mother’s words
and shook them all off.
My son barely batted an eye as the fish dropped into the
space between the counter and the wading pool they were floating but I could
see the look of relief on the carnie’s face as he picked up a single fish and handed it to Eli. Each
fish had a number on the bottom that coincided with the size of a prize. A one
earned the winner a “small prize” while a five netted a “grand prize.” Eli
flipped his fish to reveal a one. And while I was tempted to lean over the
counter and see which fish the guy didn’t choose, I decided not to worry about
the ones that got away (ones that were probably fives!)
Of course, Emma caught a two, so there was a moment of near
tears and arguing when Eli saw her slightly larger stuffed starfish alongside
his small seahorse. But Emma’s dad, Mike, quickly distracted them by asking what
their names were. Both kids looked at their prizes, and were probably about to
christen them with names like “Starry” and “Seahorsey” when Mike suggested
“Marley” for the starfish and “Bob” for the seahorse.
Now Eli is too young to recognize the Bob Marley reference,
but he always loved the name Bob. For a while, back when he was two, everything was Bob, including me. So he
was quite happy to be the owner of Bob the Blue Seahorse. And for the next few
hours, they were inseparable.
But after coming home and swimming in the pool, swinging on
the playground, and digging in the sandbox, Bob was quickly forgotten.
A few days later, I noticed something blue in the backyard.
I asked Eli what is was, and his eyes lit up in recognition. “It’s my
seahorsey!” he cried, racing off to retrieve it.
I caught up in time to hear him talking to it. “I thought you
was a gone,” he soothed, as he stroked its blue fur. “I thought you was a
gone-dee!” (He’s been adding –dee sounds to the ends of words lately)
“Look Daddy,” he said happily, holding up his new buddy. “It’s
a Gone-dee! I found a Gone-dee!”
And he’s been Gandhi ever since.
