Pining for Loved Ones Afar Off

The boys and I spent a week at summer camp in Pennsylvania in August, and it was tremendously moving to see how much Madeleine missed them and they missed her during that great Odyssee, which took us over 250 miles from home for all of eight days.  On the day before the trip, I was at the mall with Madeleine and the boys were home, and she already missed them a day before they even left.  On the trip down, we got a call from Amy and Madeleine, and Madeleine was interested in showing Ian the stickers she had gotten that day - as in showing over the phone. 

On the way home, we got another call from them, and Madeleine squealed, "The house is really quiet and I miss you two!"

But even more memorable was Daniel's reaction to the sound of Madeleine's very seven-year-old-girlish voice, still working out the sounds of structure of her sentences in real time.  The Middle Child became positively doting as he beamed and enthused quietly to me, so Madeleine wouldn't hear it over the Bluetooth speaker, "I missed that speech!"

(August 1-9, 2015)