hopie

hope caitlin acay is four years old. she is sturdy and brown with dark hair that curls just so at the ends. she has beautful white teeth and a bit of a lisp.she will say her name at lightning speed so that all the words run together "hopecaitlinacay" these days hope is heart sick.... her dad is going to iraq and she doesn't get it ...he left two weeks ago and every day hope [ we all call her 'hopie'] has a meltdown... a raging screaming time of terror ... and i get it... i get that her world is different and she doesn't know why...but dad isn't home i wonder what it is that tugs at my heart so when i see her [ even dani isn't that enthused right now i can see why each day she does what is needed and she will never be enough because she isn't daddy... ] at the risk of taking something very real and making it a metaphor hope screams as we all do when faced with the terror of change....only we must tuck that terror inside placing a lovely tight smile around it...