When my grandsons were little ones
    we used to go into the back closet off my kitchen
    where the art supplies were stashed.
We’d lug them all to the kitchen table and sit for hours
Creating, cutting, coloring, painting, pasting.

So it seems logical that when I noticed the couple with a small child
     chatting with my husband in his home office
     I would choose to go up to the little girl seated on her mom’s lap…
“Do you like to color?” I whispered.
She, Sophia, looked at me shyly and nodded
“Come with me,” I offered.

I sat her at the table, went to the closet,
pulled out The World of Birds coloring book
And there right next to the book was…
Can it be? Really?
One of those wondrous things I remember from my childhood
Did you have the same kind of thrill
     when you held a brand new box of
    Crayola 64 crayons just waiting to color the world?
Well, there they were.

I sat down with Sophia.
I laid out the book and opened the spanking new Crayolas.
She had seemed so quiet and shy on her mom’s lap
But here she was bright and engaged
Chattering and coloring
Selecting each new crayon with purpose and concentration.
That 5-year-old and I had a delicious time.

When it was time for the family to go,
I carefully tore out the picture
Sophia had dubbed a springtime robin red breast.
I gave it to her.
She thanked me.
I thanked her.

My husband reported back to me the next day:
They went to see the house
They liked it
They put a bid on it

On their way home
As the couple were excitedly talking about their maybe new family nest.
A little voice from the car seat in the back piped up
Sophia asked:
“If we buy that house…
Can I see the lady again?”