Monday, July 07, 2025

Her Smile

One day recently, a film crew stopped by to interview me about people and events from a time long ago. At one point they wanted to get some B-roll of me sitting at a table writing my daily essay.

They also asked my ten-year-old granddaughter to hover over my shoulder and watch me type.

She is a little shy, but not overly so, so she agreed. As she held the pose, I wrote the first words that popped into my mind. None of it was planned. Those words turned out to be the conversation I would like to have with her about life if we were ever to do that.

Here is what I wrote:

"So the most important thing I could ever say to you while you are still young is don't waste it. Don't waste it because it won't come around again.

"This sounds like a cliche and of course it is. But not all cliches are dumb.

"Double digits (your age) ... they only start once. If you live long enough you may make triple digits. But that is only for the chosen few so my advice is to treasure the two-digit stretch as long as you can, from age ten to ninety nine.

"Pace yourself. Life is way shorter than we'd ultimately like it to be. Most people live at high speed and ignore the stops. But the rest stops are special in their own way. They are when you can breathe, reflect.

"And look up and see where you are going.

"What else? Maybe just this: Each and every one of us is special in our own way...So live your life as if it really matters! Follow your passion. Don't settle for less. Your dreams may or may not come true but they definitely won't come true if you don't try..."

***

At this point the director called "Cut" and it was a wrap. The crew took my granddaughter to another room to sign the standard release form in case they use her image in the upcoming documentary.

She came back and brought the form to me to sign. "Just put down that you are my Grandpa."

"Thanks for helping out with this, sweetie, and welcome to Hollywood," I told her. "What was it like for you?"

"Well I tried to stay still and look serious as long as I could. But I was reading what you wrote and I just had to smile. So I did. And then the man said 'cut'."

Of course she is too young to know it yet but the moment she smiled was the one he was waiting for. And I'm sure if she's in the doc that will make the final cut.

(This one is from 2021. The girl in the story is now 14.)

HEADLINES:

  • ICE Doesn't Need Another $100 Billion — The GOP tax bill gives Trump far too much money — and authority — to rescue his failing immigration crackdown (Bloomberg)

  • At least 80 dead in catastrophic Texas floods as governor warns of more rain to come (CNN)

  • Flood warnings complicate Texas rescue effort as death toll includes 21 children (WP)

  • A girls' summer camp cut short by deadly disaster (BBC)

  • Bessent: Trump tariffs set to ‘boomerang back’ to higher rates if deals not reached (The Hill)

  • Stock Futures Are Falling As Trump Resets Tariffs to Aug. 1 (Barron’s)

  • ICE Raids Derail Los Angeles Economy as Workers Go Into Hiding (Bloomberg)

  • Israeli Prime Minister says he believes Trump can help seal a ceasefire deal (Reuters)

  • Weedkiller ingredient widely used in US can damage organs and gut bacteria, research shows (Guardian)

  • The Coder ‘Village’ at the Heart of China’s A.I. Frenzy (NYT)

  • AI robots fill in for weed killers and farm hands (TechXplore)

  • Meta’s “AI superintelligence” effort sounds just like its failed “metaverse” (ArsTechnica)

  • ICE Has Gall To Leave Raided Restaurant Negative Review (The Onion)

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