My Daughter

My daughter will often appear on these pages. As a divorced dad I have only a few days each week to spend with her and I treasure each hour. Below are a few quick stories, both from the past and the present day. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

One February, close to Valentine's Day, Jane and I found ourselves near the local candy and ice cream shop, an institution here in Cleveland known as Malley's. Unfortunately we didn't have the time that day to go inside and have a treat. As we passed the shop she looked up at me. "Daddy," she said, "will you get me chocolate from Malley's for Valentine's Day?" "Chocolate?" I said, "but, honey, you're not my girlfriend." "No," she replied, "but I am your daughter." I smiled at that. "Well, what happens if I get a girlfriend before Valentine's Day?"  She pursed her lips together and answered, "Now, Dad, you and I both know that's not gonna happen."

I was sitting at my computer one afternoon. Jane was out in the living room watching TV.  I found something online I thought she might like and I called her. "Jane! Come look at this. It's fun." She scampered in the computer room, anxious to see. Then she stopped and frowned. "Wait a minute," she said, "Is this real fun or old man fun?"

When Jane was very young one of her most favorite trips was to the local McDonald's where, after eating her Happy Meal, she would run to the climbing tubes. In that special way that only young children have she quickly made friends with at least one of the other kids. Of course, she never learned her new companion's name and, if she lost sight of the other child, I could hear her calling out, "Friend? Friend? Where are you, new friend?"

For the longest time, her favorite toy to play with was her large collection of Polly Pocket dolls and the seemingly hundreds of tiny cars and bits of furniture that were essential to the enjoyment of this particularly nasty and expensive little girl novelty. I often found myself on the living room carpet playing out each scene as she devised it. Of course, I always played the two boys in each scene while Jane played all the girls. After a while a romance developed between a doll she named Sara and one of the boys named Rob. As in most liaisons, as in life and in fantasy, this one was fraught with drama and peril. Poor Rob was hit over the head and developed a severe case of amnesia. No matter what we tried he could not remember his girlfriend Sara. In a moment of desperation Jane took the two dolls and mashed their faces together, forcing them into a passionate long kiss. She pulled them apart and said, as the lovelorn Sara, "Do you you remember me now?" I have no idea from where she pulled that particular nugget.