Tapestry

The scene was pure and simple. A father and his young daughter were playing basketball together on the community playground. I was parked in my car about a hundred yards away and I just sat back and watched them. Her giggles, his exaggerated pantomime, their smiles. All of it was sewing together a lovely tapestry of relationship for their future. Today was just a day of being outdoors and having some fun. But this bonding and trust were developing for a point miles down the road when she will need to talk to someone about her first boyfriend, when she will get into a situation where the walls seem to be closing in, when her life will provide choices but the answers are not obvious. In that moment of weakness or trouble or doubt, she could rely on her own undeveloped instincts, or maybe because of today's game of basketball, it might just cause her to turn to him and say, "Daddy, can I ask you something?"