My Precious

I am not sure how well you can see the drawing on the whiteboard, but it is my daughter's depiction of her and her dad, (me). She happened to have come to my office this day while her mom went to the doctor. In very little letters by the girl's head the following is written: "I love (heart) dad...

As one who has been working with teens for quite a while, I realize how fleeting moments like these can be.

As children become teenagers and stretch their own wings for the first time, they tend to want to shirk all that might represent their previous dependency to their progenitors. Among other things, at that age it is "no longer cool" to tell a dad or a mom that they are loved... Thus my wish to immortalize the statement on the board. It is mine, and it is precious.

She is now five. It is my hope and prayer that when she is sixteen she will feel the same way. I will try to do my best to give her, and her brothers, excuses to do so.