Last night, my daughter made me cry. She read me a book. I was having an evening when I felt a little off. Sad isn’t the word, but there was something in me that wasn’t settled. When I work through moments like that, I feel a difference and I know it shows.
She asked to read me a book. I wasn’t busy, but my pride wanted to say I was, but I know I don’t have a lot of moments like this left, and I wanted to be there for her and to live a small experience that would mean something to each of us. I sat on a white wicker stool as she climbed into her loft bed. She said, “You won’t be able to see it until I start reading.”
I answered. “That’s alright. I can just listen.” I sat with my head down, and then she raised me up.
“What Do You Do With an Idea?”
It was a book I bought for Matthew and Audrey years ago. I’m not the best with presents. Books and stories are about the only gifts I ever choose myself. They’re what hit me. It was a story that made my heart swell when I read it in the store the day I brought it home. It’s one that warmed me every time I read it to young minds at bedtimes. I love it as much for how it speaks to me as for how I hope it touches others.
A moment before, I sat with my head down, wanting to listen but with mind disengaged. She brought me back. I stood to see the pages, the colors and the pictures, to watch my daughter as she sat upright in her bed reading to me a story as I had done for her so many times in younger years. Life cycles around, and it’s a blessing to receive the gifts and small acts we gave away returned to us in a moment when these small gifts are precisely what we need.
I almost said no to listening to her read. It would have been selfish and wrong, and I would have missed the blessing and assurance that was waiting for me, all in the love and simple act of my little girl. The story spoke straight to what I was thinking, feeling; and when it was through, the story and my daughter left me in grateful tears.
“Thank you Audrey,” I shared. “You always know how to make me feel special. You are a wonderful daughter. Thank you for loving me…Thank you.”
We hugged good night. The moment ended, but the peace she gave to me remained.
I put her brothers to bed, and after read a little while longer. I brought the book she chose with me to my reading chair. I read it all again, and when it finished once more, before turning into bed, I went into her room. She was reading in the dark, still reading…my little girl.
“I love you,” I told her one more time. “Thank you for reading to me. You made me feel very special. I just wanted you to know.”
She laughed quietly and I saw her smile shined in the soft night-light glow of her room. “Love you Dad,” she answered back. I departed from her room, leaving by daughter to her book and ideas.
I went to bed. I prayed, and before I slipped to sleep, I thought of the ending one more time.
“And then, I realized what you do with an idea…You change the world.”
It happens every day.
*The book referenced in this story is “What Do You Do with an Idea?” by Kobi Yamada, illustrated by Mae Besom. It is a beautiful story for anyone.