'Are you happy now mommy?'
The following is based on an e-mail my wife sent me this morning:
Streams of morning light were pouring in through the blinds of the east-facing window, casting radiant lines onto the pink walls and the pastel alphabet squares on the carpet. They worked together, my wife kneeling and my daughter standing before her, engrossed in the daily ritual of dressing.
"When I grow up and be a mommy, I am going to have that house I like on Christmas Tree Lane. And when you are a grandma and daddy is a grandpa, you can come visit."
"Oh really?" my wife smiled, pulling our little girl's soft blond hair up through the collar of her shirt, turning her slowly by her shoulders toward the mirror on the wall to see herself.
"Pretty?" my wife asked, kneeling behind her now, her head above our daughter's right shoulder.
My daughter smiled and nodded to herself in the mirror.
In the background, the radio was on and my wife began to hear the male voice singing, "A little voice came on the phone, said daddy when you comin' home? He said the first thing that came to his mind. I'm already there, take a look around ... "
My wife began to cry. My daughter's gaze lifted to her mother's face in the mirror, her attention drawn to the tears by the sudden tightening of her mother's arms around her.
She turned to face her and my wife kissed her, and my daughter looked intently into her mother's eyes. "I love you, mommy," she said and pulled her mother toward her, patting her back gently and holding her tightly.
As the song went on, there were no words exchanged between them, the only sound being the song echoing down the hall and the quiet sounds of a wife weeping. Periodically, my daughter would pull away and look at her mother, absorbing the sadness, and then pull her mother back in onto her shoulder, patting her back gently again.
When the song finished, my daughter sensed an end and loosened her embrace, her mother following the lead. Pulling away she said, "Are you happy now mommy?"
Comments
Jeff: I am so glad you are writing your thoughts. As a co-worker, I have often wondered how you were doing in Iraq and if there was anything I could do to help, but I didn't want to interfere.
Posted by: N Harlan | January 16, 2007 10:18 PM
Jeff, VERY TOUCHING!! I think often about your family and wonder how they are doing in these trying times. Your daughter is a very preceptive girl.
Posted by: DGilmartin | January 21, 2007 6:40 AM
Hi Jeff!
This is all awesome writing! Thank you for sharing ... and my heart aches for you and your wife and kids. We have been thinking of you and will keep you in our prayers. :)
Posted by: Jan Torgeson | January 24, 2007 10:35 PM
Just wanted you to know that song tears me up too - I always think of men like you and families like yours when I hear it - and say a special prayer for you and men and women like you. Please pass along our thanks to your wife as well, I know that she sacrifices so much by not having you home.
Posted by: Katie | January 25, 2007 8:37 PM
Thank you. And I will pass on your thanks to her. She deserves them, so thanks so much for pointing that out.
Posted by: Jeff Leonard | January 26, 2007 10:00 AM
Hey, Uncle Jeff, I hope u are doing well. After reading this, I began to cry... I miss u and love u. Bye, Uncle Jeff.
Posted by: brittany | January 30, 2007 2:27 AM
My heart goes out to all the troops out there. I can't even imagine what you all have to sacrifice to be so far from your families.
Posted by: Mary | September 12, 2007 12:38 AM