LUKE YATES
I was a big boy. I never saw myself as little, and I always wanted to do what everyone else around me was doing.
One time, Mommy’s family was having a picnic and some people were playing volleyball. I walked up to the net during a game and held my arms straight up, expecting to play.
We had a basketball goal at the house. Mommy and Daddy bought me a small goal, but I didn’t use it. I always wanted to shoot on the big goal. Daddy would hold me up and I would try to shoot the ball.
Because I was the fourth boy, I learned to share. In fact, I wasn’t too sure what was mine. Whenever I saw a toy, I played with it. Whenever I saw a glass on the table, I drank out of it.
Sometimes, when Noah, John, and Paul were playing in the bedroom, I would run in the bedroom, pick up a toy, and run with it. They would get up and chase me through the house. That was really fun!
I helped Mommy plant things, and she would let me water the plants with a sprayer hose. Of course, the plants were not the only things to get wet. Other nearby things and people got wet too!
I was a determined little boy. Sometimes when I wanted to go down the hall, Daddy would block my path. That didn’t stop me. I would climb over his head, elbow him, and pass through without thinking much about it. They called me “little bulldozer”.
Oma’s neighbor had a big dog (a male Rottweiler). One day, it walked over to the fence and started barking. So I walked up to the fence and stared at him until he stopped barking. Daddy thought I was fearless.
One thing that did scare me was thunder. Sometimes when it thundered, I would cry a little and go to Mommy.
I had a favorite blanket that I called “dim dim”.
For some reason, the waitresses in restaurants would come up and talk to me. I would smile back at them. Mommy and Daddy thought I was a flirt!
One time when we were at a restaurant and everyone was eating, I started exchanging glances with a cute little girl behind me. This went on for a while, until her father finally stood up and said, “I want to know what your intentions are toward my daughter!” Everyone laughed.
I was a good big brother to Mary. Whenever she cried, I would run to get her a bottle or pat her gently.
Mommy and Daddy will always wonder what I would have done with my life. I could have done just about anything.