This Easter was the first major holiday in our family history that one of my daughters was not with us. Her college doesn’t grant an Easter break, but we were going to retrieve her anyway. Until she asked if she could do something else.
Our family is diehard Philadelphia Phillies fans (except Mom probably doesn’t know the difference between a shortstop and a linebacker). My daughters continue to remind me that I’ve yet to take them to Citizen’s Bank Park to see the Phillies play. Like somehow I can conjure up tickets to a ballpark that’s been sold out, consecutively, for almost three seasons.
So a college friend offered my daughter a ticket to see the Phillies play the Pirates in Pittsburgh, which is less than an hour from her campus. The only hitch is that the game was on Easter Sunday. My daughter was hesitant to ask, but we didn’t give her a hard time. Not sure why we didn’t. We still enjoyed a short visit.
Meanwhile, my brother- and sister-in-law welcomed a new baby into the family just a few weeks ago. His two daughters are under five-years old, so they have their hands full.
My nieces wanted to hunt for Easter baskets and goodies that my mother-in-law had hidden around the house. That made me reminisce about when my daughters were that age and my wife and I would stuff dozens of plastic eggs with candy and coins and then hide them around the house, or out in the yard if the weather forecast was positive.
I was caught between two stages in life. I was wishing that I was hiding eggs for my daughters, and at the same time, missing the one who wasn’t with us. My MIL (mother-in-law) must’ve been reading my mind. She often can. She enhanced my feelings by informing me that it will get worse, not better. She told me about when her three girls began dating and got engaged, and then married, and how she had a tough time sharing her daughters on the holidays with the other families. So that made me feel even better.
Fortunately, I think I can intimidate just about any guy my girls will bring home, and I think I can use that to ensure that my girls spend their holidays at my house. The other in-laws can have the leftovers.
P.S. Don’t forget to tell your daughter that you love her.
