After a full day of helping my husband dig out a planter box that was HUGE, the girls finally went down for a nap. Not long after they woke up, it started to rain and the girls danced and giggled in their “outside shower” like they had no cares in the world. The stress of dishes not done and stepping over toys on the floor melted away with my little Amaya singing in the “shower” like her daddy does in the morning. She loves doing the things her daddy does. She doesn’t eat mayo because “Daddy doesn’t like it either.” She sits by the window at breakfast because “Daddy sits on that side too.”  And she asks a dozen questions because her daddy loves to learn new things. I know many people have stories about a “Daddy’s little girl” but growing up without a dad made me really doubt a girl could get so attached to her father.

I love having a real family, with all the things I never thought were “real.” Things like a loyal husband who I can love unconditionally, and little girls more beautiful than any Hollywood film. Reality is completely based on how large your schema of the world is. Everyday I find something that makes me re-think how I interact and see the world around me. Like my little “daddy’s girl” and the complete joy of children playing in the rain. I was told when I was a little girl that I needed to make every day count, and now (20 years later) I’m starting to see that every day does count and all the little things are what make up the memories that take us through life. That’s the “real” stuff. The stuff that builds and grows and creates the world around us. That’s the stuff we’re made of.