MEET JOEY

 

Joey is my eldest grandchild and the first to graduate from high school. I'm quite proud of him, as he graduated with honors and got to sit on the stage in a place of honor. In the fall, Joey will go to LSU (Louisiana State University). When he graduates, he will be the third Joseph Thomas Butler to graduate from LSU. Note: I said when, not if. His great-grandfather and his grandfather are both graduates. Grandpère and I abandoned the tradition of passing on the name when we named Joey's dad, our son, Tim, but the next generation returned to the tradition. Tim attended Nicholls State University here in Thibodaux.

When I asked Joey's mom, Cindy, if I could post his graduation picture on Wounded Bird and write about him, she said, "Yes, but I wished he'd shaved." No matter. He's still good-looking, isn't he?

Joey was smart from an early age. I remember when he was about 18 months old, we went to visit my mother in the retirement complex in New Orleans. When we left her apartment and reached the elevator, Joey pointed to the number next to the elevator and said, "Nine." I nearly fell over. Cindy told me that when he saw a Walmart ad in the newspaper, he'd say, "Walmart."

While his parents worked, I cared for Joey for a few months before he was a year old. From his infancy, he loved music. His favorite song when he was around 7 months old was Burl Ives singing "The Little White Duck". He'd sit on the floor and listen, almost in a trance, and rock from side to side in time with the music, and when the song was finished, he'd cry. I'd say, "Wait! Wait! I'll play the song again," and I'd move the needle on the old vinyl back and start the song over. We'd do the routine for quite a while before I could get him to move on to listen to the other songs on the record.

When I rocked Joey to sleep, I sang to him, nursery rhymes, children's songs, and sometimes I'd run out of songs and start singing the same songs again. I wondered that I didn't bore him to sleep more quickly, because I bored myself nearly to sleep. Along with my singing, I played tapes and records of children's songs for him. We liked Raffi, especially "Five Little Ducks". Ducks again! One day, Cindy came to pick up Joey to take him home, and the song was playing.

Five little ducks went out one day,
Over the hills and far away.
Mother duck said "Quack, quack, quack, quack, But only four little ducks came back.

The song went on until:

One little duck went out one day,
Over the hills and far away.
Mother duck said "Quack, quack, quack, quack, But none of the five little ducks came back.

Cindy looked a little stricken and said, "But it's such a sad song."

And then came the final verse:

Sad mother duck went out one day,
Over the hills and far away.
Mother duck said "Quack, quack, quack, quack,
And all of the five little ducks came back.

And all was well again.

One day, when Joey was not yet two years old, I was changing his diaper, and I noted that the diaper had the rhyme "Five Little Monkeys" printed on it. I said the rhyme once or twice, and Joey repeated the rhyme back to me. I thought he'd learned the counting rhyme from his parents, but when I asked Cindy about it, she told me that, so far as she knew, he'd never heard it before. Quite a memory for a little one. Joey was full of surprises.

Joey still loves music and has a vast collection of songs. He plays the guitar, both electric and acoustic. A few years ago, I gave him my nice Yamaha acoustic guitar which I had stopped playing long before and which I never played at all well.

Prayers, congratulations, and blessings, Joey, as you embark on your new adventure.

Note: I asked Joey if I could feature him on my blog, and he said yes, but he's not responsible for what I say here.


UPDATE: One more Joey story.

My mother passed away when Joey was five years old. During the memorial mass, the priest did a dialogue sermon, asking questions of the people at the mass and going back and forth in a conversation. One of his first questions was, "What happens when people die?"

Joey's hand popped up, and the priest called on him. Joey said, "They go to heaven to be with Jesus."

The priest said, "Yes, they do."

Joey spoke again, "And if you love them, they live in your heart."

After mass, I asked his parents whether they had told Joey what to say, and they both shook their heads. Amazing!