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Suddenly, we hear the heavy wheels of the garbage truck bang against our asphalt driveway. Henry and I glance at each other. It’s our unspoken language. I quickly grab my 19-month-old grandson from the floor and pick him up. I place him against my hip as we run towards the kitchen side door. We can see the huge green truck from the little window on the top half of the wooden door. Henry starts to kick his legs and I let go of the guilt of not putting him in a warm coat for our quick rendezvous.
“The garbage truck is here!” I bellow as Henry smiles and says, “Ruck, ruck!” He sits in my arms in awe and stares intently as the tall, muscular sanitation worker tosses the garbage from the can into the back of the garbage truck as if he is lifting flowers. Henry loves to hear the noise as the back of the truck opens and gobbles up our garbage. We wave to our sanitation guy as he gets back in the cab and smiles and waves at Henry. Seconds later we stand by the stoop watching the huge truck back up, burping and bubbling all kinds of sounds as it rolls up the driveway and is gone. I had no idea until Henry became obsessed with trucks how cool garbage trucks are. I purchased a toy garbage truck at Marshalls that Henry brings to the park by his parent’s apartment in New York City. I’m told that all the other kids want to play with Henry’s truck. The other kids want to push the buttons on the top and hear the noises the truck makes. They like to open the trunk in the back. Henry beams with pride when he holds his truck and never leaves for the park without it. Obviously I’ve been missing this excitement my whole life. As luck would have it, one day Henry and I found a show on Netflix called, Trash Truck. Coincidently, the writer has a son named Henry who loves garbage trucks who he’d make up stories for at night about a friendly garbage truck. Thus, the plot of the show. Although Henry’s mom and dad are strict with how much television Henry watches, we’ve somehow watched every one of the 12 episodes a gazillion times. The scenes are so cleverly written and I am in-love with all the characters, especially Walter the bear. It’s as if the author was inside the mind of a little boy and found a way to capture childhood. As soon as Henry and I hear the jingle at the beginning of Trash Truck we cuddle into one another on the couch and get ready to watch our favorite garbage truck come alive. Having a grandson is better than I ever expected!
2 Comments
3/16/2021 02:32:03 pm
I know about the mad dash to watch the garbage truck, the recycling truck, the mail truck, the UPS truck, etc. when we hear them. While the desire of my son has lessened as he's gotten older (He's nearly 4.5.), it's still there.
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Eva KaplanSea glass, found on beaches, is naturally worn and smooth by tide and time,. As a wife, mother, Bubbe, teacher, reader & life-long learner, and of course, sea glass collector, I aspire to use writing to help me understand myself and the world around me. Archives
March 2024
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