Dad always had a special way with children, he loved to play and tease. Usually, the kids loved him for it, but occasionally he took it too far and someone would end up crying. When little Emily was about 6 months old, she and Michelle were at Mom and Dad's, visiting from California. Dad had managed to find a very tiny, almost bug-like, remote control car and was buzzing it around the floor of the living room. This stupid little car was freakishly fast and, somewhat disconcerting, with the high pitched buzzing sound it made. Dad thought it was great! He played with it like he was 6 years old and it was Christmas morning.
Somewhere along the way, he thought it would be fun to tease Emily with it. He started running it around her in circles. Needless to say, Emily was not pleased. She started hollering and crying, and letting us all know that she was being treated very poorly. She was so mad at Dad, she wouldn't even look at him for the next 6 months. Dad was still trying to make it right when her 1st birthday arrived.
About that time, we (Mom, Dad, John, Charity, and I) went to CA to go camping in Sequoia National Park. We called Michelle to see if they wanted to come. Ryan couldn't make it, but Michelle and Emily were game. During the drive to the park, we stopped at a gas station for a driving break. I was carrying Emily through the convenience store, when something caught her eye. It was a toy alligator hiding among the stuffed animal display. Emily smiled and reached for it. I let her pet it for a moment before we moved on. Unbeknownst to me, Dad had spotted the exchange from across the room.
As we got settled back into the van, Dad came up to the side door and handed Michelle that stuffed alligator. Michelle gave it to Emily. Emily took hold of it, turned to Grandpa Doug and flashed him her biggest smile. She knew where the new toy came from, and "Papa Goug," had won her forgiveness for the RC car debacle of 2003.
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