Thank You for the Zebra

I hand my baby boy his sister’s tiny toy zebra when he walks, Frankenstein’s monster-like, toward me.

“Ahng-oo,” he said, unprompted, for the first time ever.

I pray my own gratitude pours out that way, unprompted, in whatever language I can muster, as if for the first time ever, not because etiquette requires me to do so, but because in my humility I am truly grateful.