This is a "tribute" speech that I wrote about my nephew Caleb as the first of three main assignments for my speech 100 class. I believe it was written in February of this year (2014). Hope you enjoy it...
Caleb is a very lovable, fun-loving, free spirited little three year old boy. He is forward thinking and not afraid to be himself. He is kind and loving to others, and all around a pretty good little guy. Let me tell you some more about him:
Caleb is open-minded and well-rounded in his interests; stepping beyond the societal constraints of the typical male gender norm.
* He enjoys Hello Kitty and My Little Pony as well as Power Rangers and Batman.
* To quote his mother, “he loves painting his nails, the blue nail polish is his.” While at the same time, he enjoys being a ninja and fighting with swords.
* He also owns his own scented chap stick, which, if you're honest with yourself, everyone should, male or female. It's a lip softener and breath freshener/(masker) in one!
He has a healthy level of confidence in his self-image
* He will rarely shy away from a photo-op and often offers a variety of poses for the photographer to choose from.
He is a fiercely loyal friend
* Caleb is incapable of leaving any public place without saying goodbye to each and every one of his (many) friends, by name, and will scream it out the car window at the top of his lungs if he has to.
He is very steadfast in his convictions
* On several different occasions I have witnessed Caleb, when given the choice between eating both vegetables and dessert or eating none of either, choose nothing every time. Yup, you're not going to bribe him that easily; according to him, he “[doesn't] really even want dessert; it doesn't sound good to [him].”
He keeps others accountable
* One time when Caleb's mother, my sister, sang him only two bed-time songs, he kindly reminded her that she was supposed to sing him three, counting the ones she had already sung on his fingers.
He is an animal lover
* His favorite animal is giraffes, and he keeps several in his bedroom
He is a singer and songwriter
* His latest hit is called “Hearts on the Angels”, don't ask me to go into detail on what it's about.
All of these things make Caleb a very special person, but one of my favorite things about him is that:
He knows how to make me feel special
* One time he got upset when I didn't sit next to him in the car
* Another time when I had just woken up, he came up to me, smiled, and told me I was cute.
It's the small things that really make me glad that my nephew Caleb is a part of my life.