Mostly Useful

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She's a light wherever she goes

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She's a light wherever she goes

№ 32 ☼ 1 minute ☼ 253 words

Joel
Feb 13, 2022
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She's a light wherever she goes

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“Then she skips out of the room, more lamb than girl.” - Marco North / Still here / Impressions of an Expat


I’m always thinking of her.

Hot red forehead, hair smelling like pine bark and sweat.

Hands with monkey bar callouses tracing five-pointed stars in my palms, tickling. So small, still.

Bubbly giggles like butterfly wings flap.

I get home and we read a letter from her teacher. “She’s a light wherever she goes,” her teacher writes. She smiles big and proud.

She’s gone from being a little kid to being a big kid and I feel like I missed it. The pandemic stole my sense of time so I can’t remember how or when it happened.

But she still fits in my lap. She still needs my help getting dressed after a shower. She can wrap her long hair up in a towel all by herself, though.

I help her blow dry her hair and in the wisps of sun-blonde damp strands, I see a glimpse of her, older, poised, and perfect.

I dress her in candy cane PJ’s and bundle her up in a rainbow fleece blanket. She tells me she’s my burrito. She tells me to put hot sauce on her and take a bite. That’s her code for tickles. I take big bites and she squirms and laughs.

I feel her try to hug me through the blanket and of course she can’t but that doesn’t stop her from trying.

Who’s my favorite, I ask her.

Me, she says, like always.

She’s everyone’s favorite. A light wherever she goes.

I kiss her goodnight. I think, I really do have everything.

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She's a light wherever she goes

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Tony
Feb 13, 2022Liked by Joel

Going through life we sometimes miss or too quickly pass by these details of love. You have captured a real joy in life, your relationship with one of your amazing children. Enjoy this season of life because life is spending past us. Thank you for sharing your glimpse of happiness and joy with us.

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Amy Giddon
Feb 15, 2022Liked by Joel

This is lovely and evocative. Thank you so much for sharing your heart.

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