December 17

Every year, our preschool does a little nativity play starring the four (and some five) year olds. Brady followed in Isaac's footsteps tonight as he donned a headpiece and robe to be a shepherd with his classmates. Adam, Abby, Isaac and I all enjoyed watching them sing their songs and parade around in their cute little costumes. In fact, when it was over, Adam turned to me and remarked that he'd be happy to come back every single year --even after our own kids are finished with preschool-- to take in the show. But of course, Logan was missing. Maybe.

That's a straw. A plain old boring drinking straw in its white wrapper. And it seems totally random, but I'll explain. After we left the church, I headed off to McDonalds to get a quick dinner. The guy operating the drive-thru window was confused and clearly new to the gig, so there were a few errors: chicken nuggets instead of a Quarter Pounder, medium drinks all-around instead of kid-cups. And an extra straw.

As I doled out the cups when we got home, I happened to remark that they'd given us six straws instead of just five, and Abby immediately smiled and said one for Logan!. She wasn't being flip or smart; it was more of an obvious conclusion to her than a sentimental stretch. She, of course, knows he's not here physically, but he is so present in her heart that of course an extra straw is meant for him.

So between that straw and knowing that Logan would definitely enjoy seeing his littlest brother's stage debut, it felt like he wasn't terribly far away after all.