Her eyes were wide and earnest...

...when she finally quit laughing at me.

 

Our Grandlittle had found it wildly amusing that I was afraid of crickets.

 

"Hey!  You don't like crickets either!" I defended myself to her.

 

Apparently screaming and then sitting on the edge of the table while  waiting for Mr. Jenny to capture the offending (giant) cricket  was quite funny.

 

And perhaps a bit extreme.

 

But it was a GIANT cricket.

 

And those twitchy legs always creep me out.

Shudder.

 

The cricket sighting had interrupted a little conversation the two of us had been having about friends.

 

When I finally settled back into the kitchen chair, after reassuring myself that no other (giant) crickets lurked on the floor around me, my freckled little sweetheart leaned forward to finish our discussion.

 

Her innocent blue eyes were wide and earnest.

 

"Grandma.   My friend, Audrey, knows I am afraid of crickets, too.   When we go outside she walks into the backyard in front of me to scare them away.  I walk in her footsteps."

 

"Oh, that's so sweet, Julia," I told her.

 

"And I know she's afraid of spiders, so when we go into her room, I go in first to scare any spiders away."

 

"Gosh, Julia, that's really sweet, too!"  In the golden light of our evening kitchen, I leaned forward to give her a hug.

 

After hugging me back she added, "Grandma, I am so lucky.  I've never had a friend like that before."

...

 

...

 

I keep thinking about her words.

 

And the joy in her blue eyes.

 

And how rare and wonderful it is to find a friend who will give us their hearts while holding ours safely in return.