Penciled In

We are up and out early all week as we help Kate whose car is in the shop get to college. This early out affords me and 7 year old time alone before school, ready with nothing to do but watch the sun rise as we head out, enjoy a drive-thru breakfast treat of yogurt and hash browns, and linger in one another’s company. We are in the empty parish parking lot, sitting in the car, content in this quiet.  7 year old is looking at my appointment book - reading what fills my days. But when she gets to Saturday nothing is there - Oh, I say - you can write in Dance class - that’s the morning we go to Irish Dance. No, she says, it’s not dance day, it’s our day, me and you. She pencils in a big heart.  The next Saturday gets a collywobbles ‘love bug’, then 3 hearts for the 3 of us God has knit into a family. A picture like that speaks a thousand words, and I hear them daily calling me home.