5:20 a.m. November 26, 2008

5:20 a.m. Jack's excited voice pierces the night air "Mom! Mom!"

Nadine and I jolt awake because 2 weeks of sharing family colds, coughing spasms, fevers, and asthma flares and our nerves are frayed and we sleep lightly. Nadine manages to muster a "what Jack?"
He replies eagerly "Do you want to know how much I got (from the tooth fairy - her 3rd visit to Jack)?
Nadine whispers "Jack, it's not time to wake up, back to bed honey"
And so, reluctantly, he slumps back into bed.

5:28 a.m. I here more stirring. I lie perfectly still and focus my hearing. Sam is peppering Jack with questions: "When did she leave it? How much did you get? How did it get there? How did you find it? Where was it?" His volume growing with each query.
Not wanting eveyone to be roused yet, I slip into the boys room to observe this scene: Sam is continuing to assault Jack with questions. Jack has turned the light on, is sitting up on the side of his bed smiling down at his money and tooth fairy pillow. He craddles the prize carefully with two hands like a proud father. He flashes a smile again and asks "Do you want to see how much I got?" I softly directly Jack and Sam back to bed and flip off the light, assuring them that Nadine and I will review the whole wonderful event sometime after 6:00 a.m.

Life has been a series of wonderful blurring moments of late. Most of them have been unforgettable and sweet like this one, some have been more, um, let's say real, only to be appreciated from a distance in the future.

There is Sam delighting in doing puzzles with me, saying things like "Dad, you're a genious" when a find a key piece, or "We're puzzle artists Dad".

There is Jack writing me a note "Dad I liked your note (I had left a goodbye before leaving early for work one morning), I'll see you tonight. And greeting me at the end of a long day with "Dad, I love you, I'll never forget you"

There is Morgan evey morning "Hi Daddy, time to wake up? I wanna sit on the counter, watch you make your waffles"

The whizing pace of life has included my 40th birthday, a family trip to Virginia to stay with the Hallorans, My boss leaving her job, more work opportunites for me now and more to come in the near future, Nadine increasing to 20 hours at her family practice, Abby & Jake moving out of my parents and into their new house...