I once in a while wonder about what it is that makes a person who they are. Take the example of Wanderi a three year old boy, whose physical development seems to be a little different from that of kids his age. I tend to think that being friends with other people is perhaps one of the most important things to him. The reason is because if you become acquainted with him, he will do whatever it takes to make contact with you at every opportunity.

Yesterday, like many other times before, he saw me tending to the potted plants outside my door. And as usual, he shouted out my name happily and abandoned whatever it is that he was doing, all the while his eyes were fixed three floors up the stairs to where I was. And then he began coming up. In order to do that, he has to hold to the side rail and hoist himself one stair, release the rail to steady himself, take a moment to feel that he is OK, take hold of the rail once again and take the next step. When he reaches the landing, he rests for a while, look up to make sure that you still haven’t given up on him, smiles as if to reassure you that he is making progress, and then goes ahead to tackle the next set of stairs. When he reaches where you are, he just has enough strength to trot eagerly with his arm open wide for you to sweep him from the floor in a huge hug and reward his efforts with a laugh or a word of encouragement.

Once he has caught his breathe, he will start pointing out things with his fingers and naming them for you: Yesterday, he named “Patrick’s house”…pointing to the apartment where a little boy called Patrick lives. “Bulb”…pointing to an overhead florescent lamp. “Flowers”…pointing to the potted plants on the floor. “Chicken”…pointing to an eagle flying overhead. It always is more fun for him when he thinks that he is teaching you the names of these things and he will go on and on and on. After a while, his sister will call him from downstairs, and it will be time to say good bye.

Going down the stairs is easier for him and once every few stairs, he will look up and smile at you and give a little awkward wave from his little arm. He will make a few more stairs and once again will look up and wave at you…all the way to the ground floor where his sister will be waiting to hold his hand and take him inside the house.

And so after another interaction with Wanderi, you realize that even after being with all the characters in the story of your life, you are unsure whether the words on your script that define what makes a person as still the correct ones.