Cherish the little ones

Colleen and I are sitting at the kitchen table. It's quiet.

I look over at her and watch her reading and I can't help but smile. She's so intent on her book.

I whisper to her: "Psst." She looks up. I go on, "I like having little girls around. Little girls are awesome."

Instead of complaining that I've called her little, which she is known to do, she looks back at me, unimpressed, and whispers softly, "Reading my book."

She won't be 8 forever, this I know, just like she wasn't 4 or 5 for long in the grand scheme of things. But I'll always think of her this way, just like I remember Elizabeth as a little girl.