The Boy Next Door. . .

Gloria has a very cool friendship with the boy next door. Actually, he now lives in an adjacent neighborhood, but he used to live with his grandparents directly across the street from us. He's a good kid. Unfortunately, he has been deemed unsuitable as a playmate by many of the neighborhood parents but I have always found him to be polite and agreeable.

He and Gloria have been friends for about 4 years. I love the fact that Gloria hangs out with him in spite of the fact that the other neighborhood kids turn up their noses at him. She accepts him just as he is and they seem to really enjoy each other's company. They don't seem to have any boy/girl feelings for one another, just a good, solid friendship.

Today when he came by the house to see if Gloria could play, they headed out to the backyard to enjoy the sunshine. A few minutes later, Rob checked on them and commented that he didn't really like seeing the two of them up in the tree house.

I went out to take a picture, of course, and to find out if they were up to no good. I had to laugh when I realized that Gloria was drilling him on the 10 Commandments! I didn't want to eavesdrop but as I walked away, I heard him reply, "Hmmm. . . Thou Shalt Not Curse". . .