Around the kitchen table we gather quickly, bringing out from my studio a box of pens, books, paper, paintbrushes, paints, tape, and scissors.
Olivia sits beaming; I couldn’t be happier. We start to color and paint and talk about art—literally, what colors we should use and how Olivia dabs each painting with her little Kleenex. Gabriel picks his two favorite colors- out of all the colors in the box, and we don’t know how we’re going to find them again at the store.
Gabriel looks up at me and says, “Vavie, my friend at school has so many colors in his pencil bag. I have just a few…” I tell him that definitely has to go on his Christmas list: a bigger pencil bag and lots of colors. He says he would like that so much.
Then he says to me, “You know, I love to be in my own thoughts. It is my happiest moment—to be in my own thoughts, just to think and imagine. I don’t have enough time in the day to do all the imagining I want to do. School takes up so much of my time. You know what, Vavie? My most favorite thing in the world is being in my own imagination. It is far better than candy.
Olivia turns to Gabriel in disbelief. Cho
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