Papaw’s magical pocket
When we visit Andy’s mom and stepdad (aka Mimi and Papaw) in Indiana, or when they come down to see us, every morning Papaw puts on his work shirt with a pocket in the front. And since Sean was under a year old, as soon as he wakes up, Papaw would be in his work shirt and call him over. He would tap on his pocket to arouse Sean’s curiosity until he eventually approaches him and looks into his pocket and find either a Matchbox or Hot Wheels car. Sean is very shy and slow to warm up to people but every morning that he sees him, he would go up to Papaw to look for his new car. At the beginning, Sean was looking in everyone’s pockets thinking he would find cars there too but realized that cars can only be found in Papaw’s pocket. I wonder if there was a time when Sean thought Papaw grew cars out of his pocket or something. It’s a really cute bonding ritual and when Andy talks to his mom, sometimes she tells him if Papaw found some great cars and how excited he is to give it to the boys (Sean and his cousin, Aidan) even if we haven’t planned any upcoming trips. When we visit the in-laws and Sean and Aidan are playing with their cars together, at the end, they all leave with their own cars and if they don’t remember which car belongs to who, Papaw knows because he individually chose each car for each kid and can sort them all out. EVERY ONE OF THEM. Even though Sean and Aidan loves cars, I think Papaw might love cars the most.

