When Words Aren't Enough

From Mia Cope

On Monday, Daddy got up earlier than usual. As I always do, I snuggled down and went back to sleep. I didn’t realize it until Momma’s alarm was going off. Daddy was gone. Vanished. Disappeared.

Momma explained that he was on a trip to Dallas — with a breakfast visit with an old friend on the way, a check-up with the doctor who swapped out his old hip for his new hip, and lunch with a newer friend. Don’t worry, she said. Daddy will be home tonight.

It was a little disturbing, though. Daddy didn’t cover that in the Sunday evening briefing. He should really tell me things like that in advance.

With Daddy gone, my routine was completely out of whack.¹

Daddy wasn’t there to take me out to do my business while it was still dark. And who knows when I would get to go on my walk? And whose feet would I snooze at when Momma goes to the gym?

Out. Of. Whack.

Of course, the upside of the situation was that Momma would be there to take care of all those things somehow. And everything is more fun when Momma’s involved. So I spent the day with that happy thought and had a very pleasant day.

True to Momma’s word, Daddy came home just in time for supper. At the dinner table, he told Momma and me all about his visits with friends and what the doctor had to say. But he never addressed the elephant in the room.²

Daddy helped Momma clean up the kitchen afterward and then went to his study to check on some emails and such. I gave him a few minutes. Then I followed him in and just sat down beside him.

Daddy stopped what he was doing and just smiled at me. And I just sat there. Because sometimes that’s all you need to do. We didn’t need to talk. Words aren’t enough to tell someone how much you’ve missed them and love them.

When we did talk again, Daddy told me that there would be other times when he might need to be away for a while. But he promised me that he would always come back and make time just to sit. With me. Friends do that.

Be a friend. Make time. Words can get jumbled. Time always unfolds neatly.

1. I’m not exactly sure what “out of whack” means. After all, I would never describe an absolutely perfect routine as being “in whack.” I looked in the old synonyms book on Daddy’s shelf and learned that I could have also said that my routine was out of kilter. But that conjured up visions of an old Scottish man and I certainly didn’t want him coming out of his plaid skirt.

2. We don’t really keep elephants in our rooms. Momma and Daddy are on the small side and our house isn’t ginormous. So having indoor elephants is totally out of the question. Momma says it’s just a figure of speech, anyway. Outdoor elephants are a whole other concept and one that I hope to pursue in the near future.