“I forgot the roller coaster!”
Our first grader and her brother, who’s in third grade, were drawing their dream homes after supper at the table. Since it has gotten darker and colder after supper, they now sit and make art rather than playing basketball or soccer in the yard.
“And can you believe I forgot the spa?”
Her brother has no desire for a spa but has drawn a trampoline park, movie theater, and pizza place where one might order the Dad Meal—a slice of pepperoni and a Diet Coke.
Not to be outdone, his sister draws a s’more fire pit, a dance floor with a deejay, and a zoo containing lions, zebras, and axolotls (creatively spelled on her sign outside the water tank).
Their mom and I lounged on the couch, the dog resting between us. Earlier that day, I’d had coffee with a friend who is about to turn 70 years old. He told me that, from now on, he’s moving forward with love and gratitude. Recalling this, I smiled at my beloved as our kids kept adding floors to their drawings; their laughter was like wild sparrows circling the room above our heads.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of “Little Big Moments,” a collection of mini-essays about parenting, and “Tigers, Mice & Strawberries: Poems.” Both titles are available most anywhere books are sold online. Taylor-Troutman lives in Chapel Hill where he serves as pastor of Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church and occasionally stumbles upon the wondrous while in search of his next cup of coffee.
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