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| Omega |
This
sweet face is the face of a cookie monster. He lives next door to me and is the
youngest son of my colleague Faith Katarai, who teaches Systematic Theology at PIASS.
The cookie monster’s name is Omega, as in the last letter of the Greek alphabet
and the last of the Kataraia’s children. (Their first and only other is Alpha –
the first letter of the Greek alphabet.) Omega is 4 ½ and, as you can see is as
cute as a button, with a sweet tooth that does not quit.
My
kitchen faces the Kataraia’s yard, where the children play. When I am baking,
if the window is open and the children are our, they can smell the baking. I usually
bake on Saturdays, so chances are great that the children are playing in the
yard. I can usually estimate the time between taking the cookies out of the
oven and a knock on my gate to be about 15 minutes. They have learned to give
time for the cookies to cool. Omega never comes by himself. He is sharp enough
to bring his older brother, who speaks English beautifully, to plea for him. He
just stands with that angelic smile and waits for me to bag the cookies for
them. They know they will get some. I think that they have easily figured out
that I bake as much for them as I do for the other guests who drop in with
great regularity on Saturdays or Sundays. He also knows that I make plenty of
cookies, so I can expect a knock on the gate of Sunday afternoon, too. By then,
he has devoured the cookies gathered on Saturday and comes to replenish his
supply, while they last.
To
be honest, this is all my fault. When Faith found out that the boys were coming
for cookies, she tried to stop them, but I interceded. The truth is that their
coming is the closest thing I have to my grandchildren coming to visit and I enjoy
their visits because I so miss my grandchildren. A grandmother needs someone to
spoil and if it can’t be her own grandchildren, it might as well be someone else’s.
Thank heaven that Faith has understood that and lets them come. Since their
grandparents are in Tanzania, I am a good substitute for them, too. It all
works out.
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