Alphonse Theodore Bucklewheat is a catch.

If there is one I love so well, it is my dear grandson, Alphonse Theodore Bucklewheat. He is son to my second daughter Wilhelmina and husband, Hoover. Hoover and Willie steadfastly raised Alphonse in the ways of God. Alphonse loved the church and even as a babe, not once did he cry during the reverend’s sermons as if he was listening intently to hear the whispers of God. And the hymns! The hymns would send baby Alphonse to dreamland.

As a boy he loved simple things, climbing trees, playing in the dirt, and swimming in the lake. Books! Oh, how he loves books. I see myself in him when he gets lost in the pages of a book and deaf to the world. He was mesmerized by the bible. He drank all the words in. He was the swashbuckling David, slaying giants and becoming king. He sought the wisdom of the prophets and their passion for their God. He treats his mother and his sisters like they are a garden of flowers. He has the heart of a lion to stand up for what is right and the soft soul of compassion to those in need of friends. He is God’s gentleman, my Alphonse. We do not live in a world of kings and queens but somehow because he follows the one called Jesus Christ, my dear Alphonse Theodore Bucklewheat has become a true prince.

~ from the diary of Ullynde Phycklemees