A Walk to Remember

This morning I had the privilege of going on a date with my daughter, Ambria Faith.

While Mariah was at preschool, and Jamie was shopping, I tucked Ambria into her pink stroller, buckled her white shoes, and parted her pony tails. We walked down the sidewalks, over the cracks and the anthills and the weeds, to the park.

I love this time of year; the crisp autumn air and sun warming the last of the flowers, hanging on for dear life! I love the mornings in September, the distant hum of a lawnmower, the screeching brakes of the sanitation department, and dogs barking as we walk further into the silence of the park.

I set Ambria in the swing and gently pushed her. She let out a squeal with every return to me, as I waited with kisses and tickles. She was trapped in the gravitational magnetism of her father's arms.

After a while, I picked her up and we wandered over to sit beneath the massive oak tree. We watched in breathless awe as leaves seemed to change color before our eyes. She pointed at the squirrels playing in the branches above us. I laid back on the grass, looking up at the blue sky. She scooted next to me and did the same.

Miles above us, a collection of birds were hovering south.