Charlee Ann is the youngest of our four granddaughters who live in town, but she’s an “only child” for a week every year.
When her three sisters go off to summer camp, Charlee has what she calls “home camp” with her parents and at our house.
She’s just six, but Regina had her cutting out fabric and learning to sew masks.
It was when Charlee was helping me cook chicken and dumplings one night that she declared, “It’s good to be an only child once in a while.” There’s still flour on the ceiling fans.
We moved the “home camp” to Branson for a few days this year. Charlee didn’t have to be squeezed between her sisters on the roller coaster or other rides at Silver Dollar City.
There were no siblings trying to scare her when we rode through dark caves at the Big Cedar resort. Nobody tried to douse her as she watched waterfalls and waded in cold streams.
She had the best seat on the balcony of her parents’ condo for breakfast and coffee milk in the mornings and the prime spot on our balcony for the water, fire and music show on Lake Taneycomo.
During one of our condo conversations, Charlee said she knows exactly what my first words will be when I call her on the phone or if she calls me. “Whatcha doin’ Darlin?” she said in a perfect impersonation of my drawl and accent.
We were bantering about something and she asked if I wanted her to Hi-Yah me. Not sure what that was, I told her to go ahead. She gave me a karate chop in the chest and yelled “Hi-yah.”
Charlee watches karate on television and leaves bruises on her sisters with jabs she learned. We asked if she would like to take karate lessons and she wanted to know if she would get to break some wood.
I had Charlee by myself for a couple of hours one afternoon, and we explored the whole promenade mall. She wanted to go to the Build-a-Bear store to get some clothes for Animal.
Animal is the colorful, unsightly stuffed creature who plays drums on the Muppet Show. Charlee got it for Christmas, and they are inseparable.
She picked out black shoes, pants and a cap but a green shirt. I showed her several black shirts that would have matched better. “Those are plain shirts,” she said. “Animal likes hoodies.”
A clown working near the fountain was making things out of balloons. He charged a dollar a balloon. I saw girls with crowns made of one balloon and told Charlee that’s what she needed.
She asked if he could duplicate Animal with balloons. I quit counting after a couple dozen. He made a flawless replica of Animal and settled for 20 dollars.
At the shoe store, Charlee tried on countless tennis shoes before choosing a pair of Nikes. She studied the fish in the Bass Pro Shop aquarium and got Sour Punch candy at the Five and Dime Store.
Charlee asked why I was lagging behind her as we walked back to the condo. I told her I was getting too old to keep up. She said, “Momee is just 60 or 70, and she can’t ride a bicycle. You’re 90, and you walk and ride a bike every day.”
I said, “Charlee, I’m not 90. I’m barely in my 80’s. I probably won’t make it to 90.”
She asked, “Do you think you’ll go to Heaven?” I told her I did, and she said, “Then you’ll be in a nice place.”
I enjoyed the walk with Charlee and hope to have a lot more before leaving for a nice place.
REPRINTED FROM THE NATCHITOCHES TIMES