You Are My Sunshine
An Old Memory and a New Shout Out (Day 60)
On the morning of her ninth birthday, Little Bean unwraps her gift from my sister, her aunt. It is a steel drum, with numbers and colors taped to the various segments. A song book is included with the mallets and my daughter pages through, and begins to tentatively play.
I recognize the song, “You Are My Sunshine…”
The time is about 8 a.m., very nearly nine years to the moment that I sat in the maternity ward just hours after she was born, singing that same song to her. I swallow hard to get a grip, not out of positive emotional feedback remembering that day, but out of trauma.
You see, on the day she was born, we came very close to losing it all.
With a shaky voice, I say to her, “That’s the first song I ever sang to you.” I’m barely holding on.
Friends, on this, the day after her birthday, I wanted to do something a bit different. First, it was important to me to say thank you for delivering all the wonderful birthday wishes to Little Bean. It goes without saying that none of this would be possible without her and it’s really her ideas, inspiration and spirit that keeps me writing.
But second, I wanted to share the above excerpt of a column with you which will appear -possibly tomorrow - in Manchester Ink Link. As many of you know, over the years, my column Transcendental Dad has run in a variety of media across the state, including NH Parenting, NH Home, Monadnock Underground and Parenting Express.
I fear I don’t mention these fine newspapers and magazines enough and I wanted to highlight Manchester In Link today because for the past two years, 2022 and 2021, my column was named best in state, and I’m grateful for Carol Robidoux and her crew over there for giving me the space and support.
And so, I urge you all to stop by Manchester Ink Link tomorrow and have a look at the rest of the column and at all the wonderful media site has to offer. This space would simply not exist if not for the development encouragement of Manchester Ink Link.
Thanks everyone. Thank you for this amazing year. Thank you for showering myself and my family with support and praise. Thank you for donations, suggestions and love. We now conclude our broadcast year.
Let’s all do this again next year, starting tomorrow. Onward into the new year!