Hopefully when you look back, from a great distance and see your picture you’ll see love.

You might think opening their locker or having seven teachers is the greatest worry for sixth graders on that first day of school—but it’s not. In general, their biggest source of angst is knowing how they’re getting home.

This type of back-and-forth banter was something I longed to relive on the stretch of weary mornings also known as the year my youngest son went to kindergarten and was diagnosed with severe separation anxiety.

Perhaps that's the secret, really. Wrapping my arms around the present, and holding still for what is happening, instead of planning for what is coming.

One hand wants to hold on tight for just a little bit longer and the other wants to nudge him along and send him to fly.

I’m so sorry, and there’s no sign of our small, blonde child—I looked away for a second and he was gone.

They grow with every word, every chapter, every book. It’s a wonderful world, this one that books create

This is the summer of less is more. Less schedule, more spontaneity. More yes let’s go, less no not now.

I wanted them to play, wild and free, so I could wash them clean and tuck them exhausted into their beds each night.

It could have been anyone’s child that went missing at Magic Kingdom on that summer day two years ago. But it was mine.