ON MY MIND
Super Mikey by Paul Kandarian
The wonderful thing about kids (especially before they hit 10 or so and are aimed toward adolescence and adulthood when their enviable newness in the world melts on the wings of so-called “maturity”) is their joy, wonder, innocence, inquisitiveness, and, speaking as a super-proud Grandpa of Mikey, one supersmart almost-9-year-old boy, their unbelievable intelligence and insight. I’m about to go into full grandparent-gush mode here, so you’ve been warned.
R
ecently, I asked Mikey if he wanted to see a film. We love movies. He’s all-in every time we go, face glued to the screen and absorbing everything. As an actor, I take that as a sign that maybe he’ll follow in my footsteps someday though where those footsteps take him is entirely up to him. Not that I won’t nudge him toward acting, of course. He said he wanted to see one of his favorite movies, which surprisingly was Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” a 1993 animated cult classic. I’d never seen it before, so off we went, Mikey enjoying it for the millionth time, me for the first, and I spent a lot of it just beaming at him as he leaned forward on his hands drinking it all in, enchanted by the story and presentation. I never tire of watching him happy. Later, I took him on a ride, not sure where we were going, but that’s how 22
we roll. We get in the car and go. It matters not where, for almost every place is new to him, and sometimes to me. Very often, we’ll be driving along and he’ll say, “Grandpa, take a right” for no other reason than he’s never been down that road. And take a right I do, because I’m always up for a new adventure and I always listen to my grandson. That day, the movie was in Seekonk, so after we left I drove around the town where I grew up, pointing out places I played and lived and had adventures as a child. We’d done this before and I feared I was boring him and said so. “Hey, at least you’re still around to show me this stuff,” he said. I’m not sure if he meant I’m around as in around the area or around as in not dead yet, but I laughed and thanked him and was amazed once again by the stuff he comes up with. I remarked along the way how bright
December 2023 | The South Coast Insider
he was, and he thought about it for a second, and said without a hint of arrogance, just as matter of fact, “I don’t think people understand my mind… or how smart I am.” I agreed heartily, told him it’s okay and outright fun to be different from everyone else and being your own person. Later, as we were sitting in my car and he was fiddling around in the glove compartment, he came across a button I picked up at a conference in Boston that featured a quote by Elise Roy, a deaf motivational speaker who is all about thinking and living outside the box that reads: “Different is the New Normal We Should Be Designing For.” “I like that,” Mikey said, stabbing it into the visor above him where I will leave it forever. While sitting there, I drank from my water bottle in which I keep sliced lemons to add taste and vitamins.
