bella and i had just finished our second and final lap at the park. just as we turned to head home a guy a met a week earlier passed by. our faces lit up at recognizing each other and he applied the brakes coming to a stop. we stepped off the path and greeted each other. he introduced himself to bella and in short order we got talking about bike routes and group rides. i turned to bella a couple of times and could see the talks were not of interest to her given her unengaged observance. i tried to slow the conversation a few times but it kept re-gaining steam (this is a very interesting and knowledgeable man to me). after what was probably twenty minutes, we finally broke off and headed our original ways. once we were back on the bikes and out of earshot, i thanked bella for her patience and said i knew she wanted to go and that i appreciated her not getting huffy or embarrassing me in front of my new friend. she replied:
well, i figured there's been lots of times you've driven me to rollercade and then drove back to pick me up or took me to birthday parties or walked me to the library or came to my soccer games when you'd rather be doing other things so figured i owed you a talk with your friend.
sometimes i wonder how my life would be different today if i possessed my daughter's maturity and empathy levels when i was fourteen (instead of when i was 34).
