Musings...

I was thinking about the time my dad took me to my first professional soccer game when i was about 7. Dusk was settling in as we were driving to the stadium and all of a sudden I had this horrible thought: What if this isn't really my dad? What if somehow, someone who looked JUST like my dad was the one in the driver's seat...and instead of taking me to a soccer game, he was really kidnapping me and taking me far away from my real dad.

But within minutes, I saw the stadium lights off in the distance and my panic level dropped tremendously. I decided I would still keep an eye on "dad" just to make sure. Maybe the plan was to kidnap me AFTER the game, when I really wasn't expecting it.

The game was great. Granted, I don't remember much, like if our team won or lost, or even what the name of our team was, it was just great having a night with just me and my dad. As we were leaving, he bought me a red and white soccer shirt of my very own. I was thrilled until I thought, What if this is just the fake dad trying to distract me with a present while he finishes off his big kidnapping plot? Hesitantly, I got in the car with him but to my relief, we made it safely back to the apartment he lived in with my step-mom. It was my weekend with him.

As he was tucking me into bed, he said, "Oh no! You forgot Fideli! Wait here, I'll be right back!" Fideli was the name of my beloved, could-not-be-parted-from angel pillow that I had slept with every night for the past 5 years. Forgetting Fideli was a huge ordeal, to put it mildly. But before I had a chance to hyperventilate, the thought hit me: of course this is my real dad! How else would he have known about Fideli??? I was elated. My fears were finally put to rest.

A few minutes later, my dad came back in the room holding something behind his back. "Now, I know you miss Fideli, but I found a new friend who's a bit lonely and really needs someone to sleep with tonight. I thought maybe you could help out, just for the night." He then pulled out a pillow which he had put my new soccer shirt on. It was no Fideli, but it did the trick, and I fell asleep a very happy girl.