peekaboo

Peekaboo made you laugh when you were babies. I remember the bubble giggle, clear drool, and open smile on your face. I remember you laying on your back, looking up at your daddy, silent for a moment, waiting for it, then—SURPRISE (wide eyes)!

From your first year of life you learned the art, the nuances of peekaboo. Sometimes there would be a short wait while sometimes time would be stretched out and flattened like a lump of dough under a rolling pin.

Gradually you learned that, no matter how long daddy went away, daddy always came back. Love has its own ebb and flow, it never seems to recede without reaching high tide at some other point. The fact is, the shoreline is always there, it’s just that sometimes we need to look for it in a different place because it moves. That is like my love for you, my children: always there, but sometimes located in a different place.

It’s like peekaboo: I was away these past two days, but my love never left you.

Wait for it now. The tide is coming in again. It is time to see your face. I can’t wait to play peekaboo with you in the wind. Daddy went away, but I’ve come back again. I’ll always come back, as long as I am alive and able. We can laugh again now.