Tony and I are talking about our seven-year-old grandson Theo. He's precocious, stubborn, and potentially smart.
However, I am folding clothes and putting them in the armoire and my mind travels to a different location, a different subject.
"Do you think he uses humor?" I ask Tony.
"If he does, I don't think he's aware of it. Sometimes when he is so serious, it comes across as funny, but he's not intentionally funny. He says something serious, and because he's so cute and serious, he is funny."
"But I think a person who thinks so brilliantly, would naturally infuse his writings with humor."
"Hmmm," Tony is trying to fit my beliefs to his observations.
"Like when he explained how we are familiar at home, and shouldn't be wearing formal clothing, but should be dressed casually, but not to the point of wearing the same shirt until it stinks. That made me laugh."
Tony doesn't answer but only stares at me. I need to give him another example to prove my point.
"Okay, when he talks about the need for allusion and says, If we all lived in the same village and knew the same people, there would be no need to cite literature.
"Oh," Tony says, "you're talking about CS Lewis. I'm talking about Theo."
Quite a difference between the iconic thinker and our seven-year-old grandson.
However, I think Theo could become a future CS Lewis. Even his grandparents can't tell the difference.
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