SHOES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DOORWAY

To all my friends and family…..no matter how hard or wonderful times are throughout our lives……they shape and mold us and ultimately become our memories. My oldest daughter is getting married this year and my youngest will be entering her senior year in college…..a long way since I wrote this piece for them 6 years ago when I was a single dad starting to grasp the concept of what I thought was a challenge was truly a blessing.

I wrote this as my daughters were close to leaving my house as I was already missing them before they left. Each summer when they were younger they would come to my house two weeks out of every month. I still miss them now and still go through the same silly rituals that I went through then when they came to visit….I miss them and get excited they are coming then I spend the first few days getting used to them… then I have so much joy to have them there…and then they go and I miss them again. I love my daughters….I love being their Dad….. I always will.

Shoes in the Middle of the Doorway

Shoes in the middle of the doorway,

Wet towels scrunched in the corner,

And three drops of paint on the upstairs floor,

Welcome to our world for these special two weeks in June,

Just about the time I get used to having them there, they are gone,

Sadness and joy mix like a left and right hand,

It has been 3 days since I have seen their floor,

And 12 hours since I’ve seen my 2 beautiful daughters sleeping together like they did when they were 5 and 2,

Happiness…..seeing bikinis on the bathroom floor, wet from a day at Splashtown,

Choices….. like the kind we have every day, keep bringing back my girls as they choose to be with me,

Another huge smile and a teardrop rolling through my joy,

I loved walking in their room tonight and seeing a closet full of clothes and my shower curtain rod being used as an overflow clothes line.

In the freezer is 2 quarts of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream that has become a treat that always seems to be a “Daddy thing”,

Sadness, I will drop them off at their mom’s house tomorrow and when I come home and it will be quiet and all the carpet will be visible,

No towels to pick up nor will I need to mutter under my breath “when will they learn to pick up their towels”,

Yet loving every moment of washing, drying, and putting them back in their bathroom so I can tell them

“ I washed your towels” and they say “thanks Daddy”,

Happiness, Joy

Life goes on and they will be back in July, this time new beds upstairs will await them as they will be fresh with a few new stories of how their mom gets on their nerves, how they missed my house, and can we cook our favorite dishes,

And most of all… a whole bunch of “I’ve missed you” hugs and kisses,

Shoes in the middle of the doorway.