Benny's First Crush

Benny has had a serious crush on a little girl named Cecelia for almost a year. He has had dear, close friends who are girls before, girls he's planned to marry, girls he's been devoted to -- like his deep abiding love for Zoe since he was four years old. But his love for Cecelia is different -- more frantic, more urgent. She's a beautiful, sweet girl with long glorious hair and he just adores her. They hold hands, do art together, play Warriors together, and sometimes he just drags along behind her, worshiping. She is kind enough not to rebuke him, although the intensity of emotion isn't there for her. She sees Benny as a good friend and is happy to let him hang out with her. I so appreciate her tolerance! I thought I'd share some pictures of them together before they both grow out of it.

It must be love. He lets her drive on the bumper cars:



Happy and airborne:



Riding in the front of the roller coaster:



Spinning on the Katapult:



Happy children:



It's summer and they won't be seeing much of each other. I can see at this point that they've already started to drift. Benny loves girls, and his interest is pulled in other directions. Cecelia needs time to hang with her girlfriends and that frustrates him. I can see in my child that his emotions are intense and his loyalty, for a nine-year-old, is deep. The fact that he's been so focused on this one girl for so long is amazing. Thanks to her graciousness and kindness, his first crush was a sweet, innocent business that gave him a lot of joy.