Vault of Memories

Each day I awake and lazily make my way to see the wriggling faces of my beautiful family as they scurry about readying themselves for their busy mornings. My wife moves through our kitchen in a whirl of efficiency ... preparing lunches for school, signing papers and hurrying all that are in her care for the day.

Through the rush of the morning ... it seems like any other morning ... any other day that stacks up on the previous day... a fog of time that becomes weeks ... that become months... that can become years...

In every busy morning, there lies within, a moment for an unforgettable moment and in this particular morning, as the little feet of my children struggle through the door toward the awaiting car, I am suddenly and abruptly alone and in quiet solitude ... just another morning...

The door cracks open when the car should be backing down our drive... I see the little smiling face of my daughter, Darby. My instinctive thoughts are that she needs to find her forgotten library book or perhaps she has misplaced her hair brush... before I can ask her what she needs ... she rushes to me and fills my soul with her tender embrace..."Daddy, I didn't tell you that I loved you" She kisses my cheek and darts back outside.

I would live a lifetime of the days that have no end for that sweet and precious memory… a moment that was unrehearsed and impulsive… a memory that I will feel in my heart until my final day.

I have a vault of memories and a collection of joys that I access when I need a moment of solace. Every father has his vault of memories for his children. My father tells me of the peace that comes to him in his quiet times.

I know that when all seems lost, your Daddy smiles a quiet smile from deep within when he remembers his little girl who ran to him in some busy kitchen in his memory and took his hand and kissed his cheek. He smiles because he can still feel the love from you that poured from your glowing smile.

Shannon R Killman