My Dinner with David

The following is a nearly verbatim account of the (mostly one-sided) conversation between David — most frequently described as the Fourth Susanka Boy — and myself last night around dinner time.

Sometimes, Papa, I realize that I’m asking myself all these questions that don’t even have answers.

Like “Do your eyes see things differently than my eyes do?” Or “Why do I feel things that you don’t feel?” Or “Why am I even here?”

…

But I think I have these questions because I’m pretty much just a conscience in a body.

Yep. That’s pretty accurate. Even down to my half of the conversation, which was mostly stunned silence. I did make the timid suggestion that he meant to say that he was a “consciousness in a body,” not a conscience. But no, he was sure. He meant conscience. (Which makes some sense, actually. And which may reflect the afternoon he spent at CCD class.)

And then, he was gone, racing downstairs to engage in some friendly/preemptive fisticuffs with any/all of his brothers, leaving me to ponder his existential questions. Or perhaps more accurately, to ponder why he has existential questions.

Having kids who are significantly smarter and more thoughtful than oneself is a nice feeling. (And by “nice,” I mean “pretty scary.”)

Attribution(s): Photos provided by me. Yes, I’m proud of them. But I’m quite a bit prouder of their subjects.