"So, how was your day today?"
"Fine."
"Did you learn anything new or exciting?
"No."
"Did you do anything fun this past week?
"No, not really."
I have found, much to my chagrin, that catching up with my daughter after we have been apart for a few days takes no time at all ... really. I so badly ache when she is not with me. It is a hurt that many parents can identify with. Not only am I not there to be a part of her life every single day, but the days that we are apart are always just lost to me. She rarely tells me anything of substance although I know that there must have been many things that aroused her curosity, or that she found funny, or that she got to experience. I know this because she experiences all of these things in the times that we are together. The days that she is away from me might just as well never have existed for all I know. Yet, of course, I do know. She bears the marks of so many experiences in her life. You can see it in her face. You can hear it when she talks. You can sense it in how she carries herself. I have always hated packing up that pink bag because I never will know much about her life when she unpacks it.
