What are some words that you would use to describe Grandpa?

Solomon: Brave?

Nathan: I mean, we don’t have any proof that he’s brave. Well, actually, I would not go on all those trips like him. So that’s brave.

S:     Nah, brave is really like adventures and stuff, so … he’s not really brave.

N:     Yeah, he’s not brave. Friendly?

S:     Yes, he is nice to people.

N:     Generous?

S:     What’s that?

N:     When you share with people and give them stuff.

S:     Oh, yeah. He shares with us.

N:     Definitely. And he spends time with us. When we go to Dave and Busters, he gets me so many chips. Does that count? We play this game where you put the token in the slot, and it shoots up, and you try to knock down other tokens to get tickets. It’s kind of hard, and he sometimes messes around and pushes me right when I am about to do it. It’s funny.

S:     Grandpa is funny and silly.

N:     Yeah, he’s a lot of fun.

S:     He likes to play with me and Nathan. He likes to play Frisbee with   me.

N:     We play lots of sports together in the backyard. He throws balls that will be hard for me to catch—we call that “Impossibles.” We play baseball—whiffle ball. It’s fun because I hit the ball as far as I can, and I run the bases, and he tries to tag me with the ball before I run home. He never really gets me out.

S:     Sometimes we play “Grandson Bowling;” it’s when Grandpa and Grandma roll the ball back and forth, and we have to run back and forth and jump over the ball without getting knocked over.

N:     Grandpa is smart, too. He helps me with my homework and tells me when I have stuff wrong—that is very helpful. The only thing that is not smart about him is that he likes the Cleveland Browns. I always make fun of him about that.

S:     I like the Steelers.

N:     And you have to be smart to be president of CMU. I am glad Grandpa is president because it lets him do what he wants to do. It’s pretty exciting, and you get to be with a lot of kids. I think he is good at it because if you do it for 16 years, you get used to it. And because he likes kids and they like him. It’s a pretty big job. I don’t think I am going to be president of a college. But if I was, I would be proud of myself.

S:     Me too! I am proud, too!

Nathan and Solomon Donner

Nathan Donner (9) is a fourth- grader and his brother, Solomon (5), is in preschool. They are Jared and Maureen Cohon’s grandsons.