Friday, October 19, 2007

Hi, Luke

Wandering the halls of the local high school is a normal occurence for me. No, I'm not a teacher, or an administrator. I don't substitute or volunteer. I'm just a coach. I've been coaching the swim team there for more than a decade and during that time I have been a frequent visitor at the school, often with a child in tow.


Yesterday, after picking my son up from preschool, I had several errands to run at the high school. Coincidentally, he attends preschool in the early childhood education classroom at the same high school where I coach. Together we went into the front office where one of his preschool teachers serves as an office aide. She saw us walk in and shouted out a greeting to Luke as we passed by. As I approached the finance office, the athletic director's assistant heard my son's little voice and called out for him to come visit her. He did. After all, she always has candy on her desk.


We then left the office, my son carrying his funsize candy bar in his little hand, and headed through the cafeteria where a lunch shift was just beginning. Every five seconds someone shouted out, "Hi, Luke!" Though Luke is often on the shy side, he waved at several of them, saying "hi" to others. After my three-year-old greeted several of his teenage friends (and one of my swimmers greeted me), we went into the library so I could check out some needed equipment. We were barely in the door when someone sitting at a nearby table looked up and said, "Hi, Luke."


At this point I'm wondering what's going on. Granted this child has spent much of his life in the halls of the high school, but usually the greetings are from people I know, and it's usually my name being called out. My son only started preschool last week, and he is already being treated like the most popular kid in school.


I realize that he has already been in the high school yearbook a couple of times (the swimmers insisted he be in their team picture), and several of my swimmers on the boys team figured out early on that having a baby around was a sure way to attract girls, but still! As I'm laughing to myself about my three-year-old's sudden popularity, my oldest daughter appeared in front of us. She was in the library studying with her history class and offered to take Luke for me while I talked to the librarian. I gladly took her up on her offer.


With my hands now free, I took care of my business, learned how to use the equipment needed for a rules clinic that evening and headed back into the library where my son was happily sitting next to his sixteen-year-old sister. I scooped him up, thanked my daughter for her help, and headed for the door. I hesitated for a moment at the counter to thank the librarian. The words "you're welcome" were barely out of his mouth when the aide standing next to him looked up and said, "Oh, hi Luke."

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi luke!

hi traci, this was so cute. i love it how so many of your people are making your little guy feel extra special. they still love you, they are showing it by adoring your little man, too, for he is a part of you. i absolutely love being around little children (i miss that about our teens). but it has been priceless to me teaching in primary this past year. those little kids just bless me. and my neighbor next door has two little ones (2, 4) and they are also in my ward amazingly enough ... and these kids just come up to me all the time. i am in heaven around them.

cute post traci.

g'day. i am outa here. see you later, kathleen :)

Avery Gray said...

Wow! What a popular little guy! If that was my son, he'd be going up to everyone and asking for hugs. (You could say he's the opposite of shy.) How nice that they take the time to acknowledge Luke and make him feel special! (I love that name, BTW!)

Anonymous said...

Maybe he's got a secret social life you should be checking out... ;)

Cute story!

Anonymous said...

and traci ...
my little pup is named luka. love that name and the one for your little guy. i put pictures of luka and our other doggies and our daughters on my buzz photo area.

thanks for checking in on me tonight sweetie. i wish i had been on before you left. my back was trashed by the time i was done with my workday, so i hobbled home to bed for a short nap, which helped me recover energy a little ... so i was on later. hope you got plenty done on your book ideas today. good weekend, kathleen :)

Davis L. Bigelow said...

Ironic isn't it that the best stories are often captured from seemingly ordinary events of life? All we have to do is notice. Whether we know it or not, I sincerely believe that we all live extraordinary lives. It is true that perhaps they are boring and mundane to us, but not to everyone. Anyone who’s existence is foreign to our own life's experience usually finds our life’s story fascinating, engaging and maybe even riveting and entertaining. Thanks Traci. :)

Traci Hunter Abramson said...

You're absolutely right, Davis. It's so easy to get wrapped up in our perception of other people's lives when ours are truly extraordinary. We just have to take the time to notice.

Thanks everyone for your comments!

Anonymous said...

How cute! Maybe he's not as shy as you think he is.

DarkWing said...

Such a sweet story.
.... Hi Luke! ;)

Autumn Ables said...

Too funny! Adorable blog entry :)