Golf balls and resolutions

Meet my niece, Hannah. Ain’t she a cutie? At 16 months, her unique personality is shining through. She has a smile that can melt your heart, yet she can be as stubborn as a mule. Try tying on a bib, and you’ll find it quickly on the floor. Sometimes, she’ll even bang her head against a table or a wall if she doesn’t get what she wants. She’s headstrong and determined, much like another lady I love dearly. So, it’s easy to see why I love her.

A few days ago while we were up with my in-laws in Torrance, Hannah and I were playing a game: I asked her for the golf ball in her hand and she gleefully put it in mine. Then, a few seconds later, I gave it back. She smiled even wider. My heart oozed.

Since her attention span is even shorter than mine, we quit that game after a few minutes and went on to something else. So, I put the golf ball with two of its twin brothers in the corner of the room.

Hannah, noticing the other two balls, crawled over and tried to grab all three balls with her tiny hand. She stretched out her fingers as far as she could. Then, after 10 seconds or so of struggling, she gave up on the entire enterprise and crawled away. She didn’t just want one ball — she wanted them all. And when she couldn’t have them all, then she wanted none.

In a couple of days, we’ll hit 2006 with all our resolve and resolutions. I tend to dream and make lots of promises — like learning Korean every night or exercising three times a week or practicing to play the piano like John Legend — except that I often make 20 of them. Try picking up 20 golf balls with one hand. I usually end up dropping them all. I guess Hannah and I are a lot alike.

I still make New Year’s resolutions nonetheless. I can’t help it. But this year, I’ll try to pick up only a few. Besides, the sharing game was more fun anyway.

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  1. i lost the comments while updating this website — my bad…

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