I've heard Shad tell the famous rose story many times.....
At a mere five years old, Shad "fell in love" with a much older, more mature teenage girl.
To show his true feelings, Shad decided the only gift for such a sophisticated teenage woman could be a single red rose. He waited for just the right moment, and sweetly held up the rose to the girl and said, "Teenage girl, would you accept this rose?"
Just kidding, just kidding. I was just seeing if you were paying attention, and also I'm going through Bachelorette withdrawals.
Back to the story. As she took the rose, the flattered girl gave Shad a kiss on the forehead, and 30 years later Shad still tells the famous rose story.
Often I will tell Brandon, "You are just like your father." Sometime I say it with a laugh. "You are just like your father (ha ha ha)." While other times, I say it through gritted teeth. "You are just like your father!" It all depends on the day or the situation.
This week Brandon went to a Vacation Bible School, and saw a much older, more mature girl of twelve that he hadn't seen in a while. After the first night, he came home excited proclaiming, "Mom, I didn't know I missed her so much. I'm going to write her a card and sing her a song in front of everyone."
Right before bedtime, he came downstairs holding one of my necklaces. When I asked what he was doing, he said, "Oh! I'm going to give her this necklace." Wanting to keep my jewelry, I suggested, "Why don't you just pick her some flowers?"
The next morning, he went outside to find the right flowers, and he came back in smiling with an armful of black eyes susies. He asked me for a vase so I gave him a mason jar.
As he left for VBS brimming with excitement holding his mason jar full of back yard black eyed susies, I found myself breathing a prayer I had never prayed. "Lord, please help this girl not to hurt his little heart." I have a feeling that won't be the last time I pray that prayer.
When Shad dropped him off, Shad stayed long enough to see how it went. B walked up to the check in desk and asked where he could find the object of his affection. B ran off to the classroom where she was. Shad didn't see the exchange but B came back smiling and said, "She took them! Now on to the slop bucket!" The slop bucket was a bucket of nastiness they poured over the pastor's head on the last night of VBS. As you can tell, B not only inherited his father's romance skills, but also his attention span.
When the whole episode began, I almost told B not to do it. Part of me wanted to say, "You are too little. Stop being silly." Then I remembered Shad's famous rose story and thought better. Obviously that moment was pivotal for Shad. Maybe it's a rite of passage for the Lankford men. If anything, it was a great lesson on taking chances and putting yourself out there.
Who knows? Someday this may be Brandon's famous black eyed susies story.
No comments:
Post a Comment