Mathilde and Levi in
Just Play Along

Sometimes in life you just play along. There might be a movie showing at the theater starring an actor you’re not a fan of, but you watch it anyway. There might be a song on the radio streaming lyrics you stumble on, but you sing along anyway. There might be a game you never win at, but you play along anyway.  Sometimes you do this because the one you love most is the biggest fan of the actor in that movie or knows every word to that song on the radio or always wins at that game. You do this because being together is more important than any of those other things.

I think Levi feels this way about Mathilde, especially after her mother explained to me how “earlier this week [Mathilde] told me Levi snuck into her room and sat at the door watching her. She said she told him he could stay a little while, but that he stayed a long time. She likes to play with him and he plays along. For example, he’ll sit and watch her do her puzzle or color even though he can’t actually do the puzzle or color with her. It’s incredibly sweet to see them together.” 

Sometimes there’s that special someone who makes your head turn when calling you by an endearing nickname that you’d never turn your head for with anyone else. “When Mathilde was learning to talk, she started calling Levi, ‘Sheesh’. We think it’s because she couldn’t say chien [dog] in French. It stuck, but he only answers to her when she calls him Sheesh. If we call him Sheesh, he puts his ears back and looks at us like we’re nuts.”

Maybe if we could all just play along sometimes and be a little bit more like Levi, the world would be a better place.

©Daune Sheri
June 3, 2019