This morning the phone rang at 7 am. Dave was already up and meeting with his ‘Bible guys’ and I had thought, I might get to sleep a little longer, one of the most exciting things about being retired, but no… my daughter seems to love to talk before dropping her kids off at school and her workday begins.
I cleared my voice, and pulled off my CPAP before answering. “Hey Em, on your way to work?”
“No… almost out the door. I want to tell you something funny? You know I’m turning 38 next week.”
“Yep, our crab apple trees are almost blooming— they always remind me of your birth. Is turning 38 funny to you?” I thought to myself, gee whiz, my oldest is close to 40. That makes me feel…
She interrupted as usual, “No, but I feel like every day lately I’m turning into you and dad!”
“Just yesterday John just called me, Little Nanc, and this morning I told myself, I almost don’t want to go to Colorado next week because I’ll miss my peony bush blooming and it just makes me so sad inside.”
For the record, I’ve always had trouble getting Dave to cross the Illinois/Iowa border for fear that a bush would bloom without him present.
“Oh Em, that is a very, very serious problem you’ve inherited. But you can work on it because you are living in a state that has flowers most of the year, come on.” I sighed, loving that she is pretty much all her daddy’s girl. I suddenly asked, “Why did John happen to call you Little Nancy?”
“Well, I don’t think I should say, you might get mad.”
Hmm…did you trip and roll your ankle? Did you put on something and attempting to squeeze your bod into clothes you should no longer be wearing? Did you sigh and moan looking for something in your junk drawer that was precious to you? Did you scream, hurry up, we’re going to be late and this family is never late!
I said, ” Come on honey, you’ve got to tell me?”
“Oh, I’ll tell you eventually, mom— I tell you everything. Love you, gotta go.”
“Love you too.”
In the background, I hear,
“Samantha, and Juliette — grab your backpacks, we’ve got to leave, NOW— You both need to realize that this family is never late !”
As I walked to the lake I smiled happily, humming, “cat’s in the cradle with the silver spoon— she’s grown up just like me.
Em’s tree, partially blooming will be all set for her birthday. Oh how I love this girl.
Two years and finishing strong... 
I love being privy to your inside thoughts and what you say. This made me laugh as you recounted the ways Em could be called little Nanc. My son turned 39 in April, so I understand your thoughts about kids turning 40. FYI: I have a CPAP too. 🙂
Love how you captured that easy back and forth between mother and daughter! How do our kids age while we don’t ? Ha! I rarely sleep in, but love an occasional nap in retirement.
This is hilarious! My dad always used to say, “I hope I live long enough to see you have a kid just like you!” Well, he has. 🙂
Fun! I’m glad you captured this and that you are writing!
I loved everything about this! How you wrote it! What you wrote about! How your daughter is growing up like her mom!