cultural literacy

Garrett's cultural literacy is blossoming, and a lot of it is thanks to the place where he is growing up. For example, on Sunday at church a member of the temple presidency attended our ward. His wife, who is undergoing chemotherapy and came with her head dressed in a pretty pink scarf, joined him, and they both gave a little presentation to the kids in Primary. After church Garrett was describing "an old sister missionary what who came to our church" who taught him in Primary. It took me a minute to piece together who exactly he was talking about, but eventually I figured it out. "Was she the one wearing a pink scarf on her head?" I asked him. "Yeah," he replied, "the Lebanese one."

He has his education to thank as well. His classmates hail -- and many not too distantly -- from all over the world: Egypt, Ireland, Italy (a lot of Italy), Colombia, Brazil, Palestine, China, to name a few. He's learning from his friends that to come from another country or to speak another language at home is not something to shun but to be excited about.

Yesterday at his school all of the kindergarten classes put on a small cultural celebration for the parents. Each class had prepared a song to perform; Garrett's class sang "New York, New York," accompanied by the famous Frank Sinatra recording. It was adorable -- and hilarious, false start and all.

video shot and shared by "Wayne's mom," Julie

Later in his classroom we feasted on food from around the world, which had been prepared and contributed by his classmates' families. Plantains, Italian meatballs, mango pudding, homemade hummus and pita bread -- everything was delicious and just exotic enough to appease both young and old.

What a privilege it is, I think, for Garrett to be introduced to the wider world from such a young age, even if he sometimes confuses cultures and cancer.  It will serve him well throughout his entire life.