If you ever plan to take an 11 year old girl shopping, you will be in for an experience that will definitely entertain you and if the 11 year old you take is anything like the one Don and I took, you will not be bored.
Gabby is one of the most beautiful young souls that has ever touched my heart and I cherish every second I’ve been able to spend with her. She and I met when I moved back to my hometown to begin the cleansing period I felt I needed after going through a divorce. Not long after meeting her, I met Don and the three of us have all become very good friends. Don and I are so happy Gabby’s dad is willing to share her with us as she is a such a peach! It wasn’t uncommon for us to take her shopping with us when Don would come to visit for the weekend. One of those times we shopped for a Halloween costume and it didn’t take me long to realize how an 11 year old and a 48 year old’s opinions would differ! There may have been a bit of teeth gritting at the second hand store when every dress I showed her received the same response, “Nope, it looks like a grandma dress.” Don saved the day and my sanity when he found the perfect Zombie Bride costume for her at one of the discount stores we stopped at and it only needed a minimal amount of tweaking before it passed her inspection.
On a different weekend Don felt the bed I was sleeping on needed to be replaced so we picked up Gabby and headed to the nearest bed selling town. Don is not the type that likes to shop around for long periods of time so we got right down to business and found the mattress section in the store. I laid on a few different possibilities and eventually found a rather reasonably priced one that felt like it would probably do the trick. Before long Don was standing at the checkout counter. I was somewhere between him and Gabby. She was shopping around and spotted an enormous king size bed in one of the bedroom furniture sections. It was all decked out with a nice fluffy comforter and all I remember, as I tossed a glance in her direction, was the plummet. She decided this bed was calling her name so she positioned herself at the foot of it, held out her arms as if she was flying and let herself drop. It didn’t take us long to realize there was no mattress under that comforter but rather a nice slab of plywood! What a shock! Wouldn’t you think a store that sells mattresses would have one set up in every bedroom furniture grouping? Apparently not. I was glad Gabby didn’t get hurt and after the fact we laughed and laughed. I don’t think Don saw it happen but I’m sure he heard the thud when the faux mattress found it’s victim!
On the way home Gabby was attempting to send a text to a friend and her phone kept typing multiplies of the same letter and she said, “Ugh! I hate it when my phone stutters!” I actually thought that was a rather creative way to explain the issue she was having and that too, made us laugh.
I have no children of my own but what I’ve learned from Gabby and the numerous hours we’ve spent together is that they like their phones and their games and their brand name clothes but I’m willing to bet most of them would trade it all if it meant they would get more time to spend with someone that truly cares about them. Especially if that someone is willing to listen when they need to talk or someone that wants to blow bubbles and make scarves and make a jump rope out of old Walmart bags. I was that person for Gabby and I will cherish those times for the rest of my life and honestly, I think she will too!