this one caught me off guard

Greg and I took the boys to lunch over the weekend.

One of the those kid-friendly places that is usually a thousand decibels louder than it should be, with shirley temples being sucked down by 5-year-olds who have dried ketchup on their cheek. Still, we had fun and left with full bellies, only to have the hostess hand the kids balloons, a green one for Hayden and a blue one for Griffin.

Of course, our oldest declared he is too old for an inflated circle on a string. As we stepped outside, he let the balloon go and said, 'This is for you, Papaw Mike.' The gesture made me smile.

Not to be outdone, his younger brother followed suit, tossing his balloon to the sky and saying...

'Here you go, Michael Jackson.'

Obviously, one tugged at the heartstrings a bit more than the other.