"Christmas is like everybody's birthday"

Maia's observation yesterday about Christmas, which is fast approaching.

A few days ago, she asked me when I was going to die.

"I don't know," I said. "I think after you get out of school and maybe after you have children."

"What is going to happen to me?" she wanted to know.

"Well, there will always be somebody to look after you. Mommy and all of your cousins."

"How am I going to get money?" she wanted to know. "Airplanes, food, clothes. They're expensive. How am I going to buy things?"

"You will have money, Maia. Mommy and I will make sure of that."

She knows I'm 62. At a Girl Scout event, one of the girls in her troop asked me why I'm so old.

I think I should set up a bank account for her. I've told her I'm going to buy her some McDonald's stock, and maybe I should do that, too. Maybe I can do that for Christmas.

John, Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Maia's goodnight wish

"Wish me a good day tomorrow."
We were lying in bed--she had asked me to sleep with her--and I was thinking about what would face me on Monday. A lot of pressure at work.
"Have a good day, Daddy."
And then as an afterthought she added, "And God, wish Daddy to have a good day and a nice day."
"Did you say, 'God'?" I asked her to confirm.
"Yes," she said.

John Monday, Nov. 8, 2010