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Monday, February 27, 2006

Connecting with the little man


Anyone who knows our little man knows that he loves apple juice. I know he'd drink it all day if he could, but for obvious dietary and dental reasons, we strive to limit his intake to something more appropriate for the the typical five-year-old.

I've evolved this odd little quirk around his favorite beverage: whenever I'm away from home, I try to drink some. As I do, I think of him and imagine that he'd find it neat that his Dad is drinking apple juice, too, wherever he is.

So earlier today I found myself floating seven miles above the earth as some majestic peaks slipped below the belly of the plane. I popped open my can of Motts, pulled out my camera, and thought I'd reconnect in some small way with a small person who, for all I knew, was asking his Mom for a cup at that very same moment.

For a brief instant, it felt like I was right back where I wanted to be.

Your turn: How do you connect with the folks who matter when you're away from home?

12 comments:

  1. Thanks to technology. Now I can connect with the use of my celphone either by calling or texting. Years ago, all I had were pictures of my loved ones in a brag book which I carry along wherever I go.

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  2. I’m writing more poetry these days. Lately when I’m away I write something about, inspired by, or dedicated to one of my daughters in the skinny spiral bound notebook I use for work or in the better, leather bound one I use for my personal writing. Most of the good stuff shows up in the spiral bound and gets transcribed into leather later. Some day, maybe, I will show them what I’ve written. For now, it’s mine.

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  3. Until recently I felt as though I had been away from "home" for the best part of 15 years. I didn't realise where home really was until I tried to go back there and found out I'd only just left it.

    I don't suppose that makes any sense at all. Oh well.

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  4. Postcards. As soon as I got off the plane in Bangkok, before I even headed to the money exhange counter, I was on the lookout for postcards.

    I found myself diligently filling up each one of the stack of postcards with daily remarks and anecdotes, such as, getting on the wrong train and ordering my first pad thai, when I'm washing down my breakfast at the hotel every morning.

    Writing embraces an incredible power that lets me hang on to that filament of missing the special folks back home.

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  5. Well, let's see...since mine are older, I have to settle for photos. Although these days, I sometimes resort to text-messaging them, knowing it's one of the few things they'll actually respond to!

    Hi Carmi!

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  6. Awwww! That's sweet! I call home from town when I get to escape for the day. Other than that, I've never been away. Sad, I know.

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  7. Hi Carmi: By the way, Dad too is drinking apple juice, in the absence of o.j.for now. So...this is actually an intergenerational program!! Love to all the apple juice drinkers, big and small! Love, Mom

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  8. How sweet. You've got lucky kids, Dad.

    By the way, I missed my blog reads yesterday. Belated congrats on being Michele's Site of the Day!

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  9. This is horrible to share but funny and true. My husband calls my (well...) his monkey. I know it's stupid, but he has a little stuffed gorilla that he won at a circus game and kept it as something "touching" for me...of course we laughed hysterically.

    He just got back from a 25 day motorcycle trip, one in a lifetime, and he has a picture of the little black gorilla sitting on the Harley seat in Key West.

    I didn't even know he took it with him! The strange inside jokes we all have with our loved ones...:)

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  10. i'm here on my own this time. Very cool anecdote. kinda chicken soup for the soulish.

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  11. I love this post. Really sweet.

    Hubs and I text message and phone like it's going out of business when he's on the road (all the time).

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