To the dad and his 10-year-old daughter on the bus: thank you. For your beautiful conversation. For the laughs. For the obvious love you share. For just being.
I watched the pair sitting across from me, having their conversation, and I smiled the whole way home. There was nothing particularly funny or engaging about their conversation. Except maybe that they were interested in one another, actually listening to each other. He was asking her about her day; she was talking about some dance routine she was practicing with friends.
"You know the eighties?"
"Yeah, I was kinda there," he responded.
I caught the eye of another passenger and we both giggled a little. The girl was oblivious to the little joke he was telling - mostly to himself - but she got that her dad was listening, and she continued on, talking about Madonna ("do you know who that is?" she asked).
It reminded me of my girls. We have full-on conversations now. It's amazing. They've been away at their Nana's for part of March Break, so I haven't seen them, but I got to talk to both of them over lunch today. Boo was the first one on the line. She was so excited to talk to me. But within about four minutes, I could tell she was getting antsy, then she blurted out: "do you want to talk to The Bean now?" I wasn't ready to let her go yet. I knew she had so many more interesting things to say. So I kept her on a bit longer.
It was so different from even just a couple of years ago. They would go stay with Nana and Grampa and the conversations I'd have with them over the phone were stilted:
"What are you up to?"
"Playing."
"What are you playing?"
"With the doll house."
Now, the conversations begin with me asking what they are up to, and they pretty much go on a long monologue, which I love. And we laugh together. And I throw curveball ideas at them, and they hit them out of the park.
I never used to find older kids very cute. I never even really noticed them. Now, I think that 4-6th graders are the coolest human beings on the planet. That girl on the bus - I couldn't stop listening to her and her stories about her day and her friends and what they've been doing. She, and my kids, have got so much going on. And they are interested in the world, and my girls are even starting to be interested in me.
Today, Boo asked me what I was doing, at work. So I told her I had lots of meetings, and between the meetings I was helping my team and answering their questions and talking through ideas. She thought that was neat. Then The Bean asked what my office looked like (they haven't been to my office since I began my new job in November). I started to describe it, but then I just took a few pics with my iphone and sent them to her. She saw them later in the afternoon and told me I have a beautiful office. Ordinary conversations, but they become extraordinary with the realisation that these types of conversations didn't exist for them until recently.
I wanted to reach out to that dad and his girl and thank them for making my day. Maybe also to tell the dad to enjoy this time with his girl. Then, I realised I didn't really need to; he was clearly enjoying her. Maybe that's what made it so fun to watch them. But it was certainly a good reminder to me to enjoy my two girls. Time keeps ticking along, and they just get more and more fun.
