Colt the news maker

Listen, Colton has been on my mind a lot lately, not just because he has been laying beside me for the last couple of days trying to recover from the flu. He keeps saying this "stuff" that I have to take a double take on, looking to see if in fact it was him who said this "stuff" or someone who does a darn good impersonation. Of course, it's not an impersonation, but it seems like it should be. I have no idea how this "stuff" lodges in his brain let alone floats out of his mouth. When I look at him in disbelief - actually I am looking deep, deep into his eyes to see if he is for real - he simply stares back at me with that "what??" kind of look. I have to just shake my head...

This morning, 4 am, he screams, "Dad" from his loftbed next door. All I can think is, "Whew, it's not me!" (I know, I am a very loving parent.) Next thing I know they both are in the bathroom, "expelling" the Egg Drop soup from earlier. David sets him up on the floor and by 4:15 is crawling back into bed. 15 minutes later, we hear, "Somebody!" I guess that brought me into the mix and I wondered if in fact David admonished him to call out my name next time, but Colton simply couldn't bring himself to do it. In David's world, "Somebody" means me. He didn't move. I crawl out of bed, walk over Colt's floor bed, and sit on the bathtub to support him... Colt, head in the toilet, says "I hope this isn't the end of the road..." Not sure I heard him right, I say, "End of the road? What do you mean?" He says, "I hope I don't throw up my heart and die." He also asked me if it was possible he could throw up his liver. I told him, I didn't think so - or at least, I had never heard of that happening.

It reminded me of last time he was sick, screaming from the bathroom for his Dad first, then, next time, "Somebody!" In between one of his "expulsions," he said with great exasperation, "Lord, save me from this misery."

He has a wonderful spiritual side to him. Last week, we were saying our bedtime prayers. I typically ask if he has a special request, just in case there is something on his mind. He invariably prays for a classmate's diabetes and sometimes has an unspoken request. That night, it was just Andrew's diabetes. I leave, walk into my room and hear very loudly, "Isn't somebody going to pray with me??" Again, "Somebody."

I calmly go in and remind him that we just prayed two minutes ago, if not less. "Oh, yeah," he says. Clearly, he has something else on his mind. "Soooo, did you have something else you wanted to pray about?"

He went on to tell me that in school that day he learned about purgatory. I see, I say, not knowing much about it due to my non-Catholic upbringing. He tells me that it is a place between earth and heaven where the dead people go and God decides if they go to heaven "or down." He then says people need to pray for them. I say, "Ok, good. Well, let's hit it." He prays a very sweet, thoughtful prayer, ending with "And Lord, I pray that you let all the people in purgatory have good lives in heaven." He is passionate, sincere and very convincing. "Amen," we say together.

I tell him that I don't know a lot about purgatory, but I do know that some people don't believe in it. I added, however, that I know Catholics do. "Oh, I do believe," he said with great enthusiasm. "I believe."

So, tenderly, I ask, "Do you think Grampy is in purgatory," thinking of my Dad who died unexpectedly four years ago. "Nope," he said with great glee. "I just got him out!"

What a joy Colton is to me...

I will end with this, as he lays here beside me on the bed, still recovering ... It's an article that appeared this weekend that quotes him. Beside the Wide Awake Club, I think it is the first time - though I am sure it will not be his last. Please read my PS comment at the end.

Scouts' pancake breakfast provides ray of light, full stomach to needy
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Sunday, March 09, 2008
By Beata Mostafavi
FLINT - Ed Hinman took a break from chilly air Saturday morning to enjoy a plate of hot pancakes, sausage links and coffee inside St. Paul Episcopal Church.

The former union carpenter, 40, who lives in a homeless shelter in Flint, said it was nice of the Boy Scouts to spend a day helping the community by providing a free hearty breakfast.

"I think it's good for them, and it's definitely good for us," he said at the Scouts' annual "Feed the Hungry Breakfast." "I wasn't going to eat at all."

More than 30 Cub and Boy Scouts ages 7-18 helped cook and serve roughly 100 pounds of donated food to more than 200 people at the church at 711 S. Saginaw Street.

"I just like helping out," said Joe Latavis, 16, a junior at Swartz Creek High School, as he whipped up pancake batter under a tent outside the church. "At times, it makes me sad to see that so many people are here ... but I like to see the smiles on people's faces."

Wearing a hairnet while dressed in his full blue Cub Scout uniform, Colton Frownfelter scooped up ready-to-serve steamy hot cakes.

"There are a lot of people here, and this could really help the community," said Colton, 10, a fourth grader at St. John Vianney Catholic School.

The efforts definitely helped such residents as Brian Smith, 37, who was happy to see children getting involved.

"I think it's very nice and thoughtful," said Smith, who lives in a Flint homeless shelter after getting laid off from a temporary staffing firm in Brighton.

"I think it's good for them to do that because it teaches them at a young age to be caring about other people and teaches them about humanity.

"Being jobless and homeless and not having adequate funds to eat, this breakfast definitely helps me out."

The breakfast was organized by Tall Pine Scout Council Boy Scouts of America in partnership with the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan, along with co-sponsors Great Giant IGA and Country Fresh Dairy.

Erica Hall of Flint Township watched as son Myles, 7, excitedly carried milk and juice cartons through the room.

She said it's a good lesson for him after a fire wrecked their family's home in November.

"A lot of people reached out to help us, so I think it's important that, whenever possible, he help others," she said. "It provides them with a sense of community and involvement with others who are less fortunate."

Anthony Watson, executive of the Tall Pine Council's Baden Powell District, said the experience should give the young men an up-close view of what's happening around them.

"It's important that they understand the necessity of giving back and that we're all interrelated and that it's important to help other people meet their needs," he said.

PS - When I asked Colt about quote, noting how proud I was of him to say such a thing, he just laughed. "I didn't really say it," he said. I immediately assumed he was misquoted or the kid next to him said it instead. "Oh," I ask. "What do you mean? Who said it?" "Well, I said it, but it is actually something I heard someone else say on television."

Who said TV isn't educational??