For Emma....

Emma Jane left yesterday morning very early. She was here for six weeks. That's a good long time to fall in love with someone and make them a permanent part of your everyday life. She stayed mostly with my daughter Emmy and her family, Emma's cousins Mae and Clarkie (the Jesus baby). She arrived with a toothbrush and the clothes on her back (per our request) and left with two bags of new clothes, a new haircut, a ton of memories from places she visited (the Grand Canyon, Utah, Route 66, Oceanside, Balboa Island, SeaWorld, etc). She was loved and valued, kept safe and cherished, which is every child's birth right. She is going home to a new house and a new school and a new neighborhood. She'll be around the corner from her brother, her grandpa, her Aunt Linda, and she'll have a safe playground AND a swimming pool. Life just got 100% better for her this summer. On the way back from the Grand Canyon, we pulled off the road in the middle of the night. We saw the Milky Way. I had never ever seen the stars like that. It was magnificent. We saw shooting stars. Emma asked me what I wished for. I told her that I was giving her my wish. She asked, "Can you do that?" I said, "Sure! In fact, I'm giving you all of my wishes on all of the shooting stars I see for the rest of my life". So...there you go Emma. I also made a little video of snapshots from Emma's visit. I set it to Jason Mraz's song, "I'm Yours" because it was her favorite song to listen to on my IPod.