Her

Ok. Stop. Do not read this if you are not in the mood for sap. I am just overwhelmed by my daughter and who she is right now that I could just bust. I have been trying and trying to think of a way to describe what it is like to be with her, to see her for who she is. It's hard to really explain anyone, let alone a child as bright and caring as Ev is.
So if you aren't a kid person, if your are not sentimental, if you are hormonal- just stop reading. I will return in a day or two with much less syrupy fair.

Have you ever been out in the wee early morning with a cold mist or fog hanging in the air, when the sun finally shines out over the tips of the trees and lights everything up in a soft golden glow and you feel as if they left the door to Heaven cracked open a bit?
Have you ever been walking in the deep cold of a Northern winter, when the snow is glittering and you get this pleasing crunch with every step? When the air is so brittle and fresh it is almost painful but it is so quiet around you that you can hear the swish swash of the wings of a magpie?
Have you ever stopped at a roadside stand in the middle of a blazing hot Southern afternoon and bought a tree ripened peach and bit into it and had the juice run down your chin and arms until you were sticky and happy?
Do you remember that feeling on Christmas morning when you were a child, and you would turn that last corner and see all of those beautiful packages left there by some Magical Man right under your tree?
Have you ever been handed a fresh, hot home-made donut right our of cast iron skillet at your Grandmother's?
Have you ever pulled up in front of your favorite New York restaurant and found a parking space right there (!) , right in front, just like in the movies?
Have you ever laid in bed at night, close to someone you love and listened to the distant whistle of a train?
Have you ever had your sister call you, out of the blue, and make you laugh right at the very moment that you most needed it?

These are the kinds of feelings that well up inside when I see my daughter running towards me with a smile on her face, arms outstretched.
This is what it is like to live in close contact with a girl like Ev.
Pure magic.