The Little People

Our family has always called them “The Little People.” The Little People are in fact, in truth, quite short. “Small in stature, mighty in valor” says a plaque in their kitchen. Also quite true. We first knew them as students over thirty years ago, then as young marrieds, then as young parents, then as parents of teens, and somewhere along the journey we all morphed into middle age.

Like many people whose lives have intertwined with ours, our children know each other from occasional visits. In the back of my mind is a dusky memory of a summer evening years ago at their home on the hill. Looking out front I saw all six of our respective offspring ranged along the curb, in age rank: tall, short, tall, short, tall, short. Great Danes do not have Pekinese puppies, and Pekes don’t have great Danes.

Our daughters, of course, never had a ghost of a chance to be short.

In recent years the home of The Little People has become our B&B when we are visiting a college campus near them. Their kids are grown and the upstairs is all ours. We can come and go in the comfortable friendship of years.

The Little People’s home is large, but everything is designed for those who are small of stature. Brushing my teeth at a basin I look like a giraffe at a watering hole. Mirrors show a great view of my neck. Beds built for short people long ago led us to commandeer two rooms upstairs for sleeping.

We laugh at the differences.

But we recognize that size has no bearing on friendship, and minds are matched not by stature but by common goals and interests. Rousing games of Settlers depend on a cross of wills, not swords. Relishing sushi demands only a love of Asian food. Chopsticks fit any size hand. Friends are whole people.

Last weekend our tallest daughter joined us with The Little People. Great conversation and games. After she left, their second son came by for a visit. More conversation and games. One generation enjoying the next and vice versa.

Their post college daughter was home over Christmas break. When her parents mentioned that we were coming to visit, she asked a simple question.

“Do they know that we call them The Tall People?”