The Little Things

Emily 4 days old.  Big brother Lucas.  Beaming parents.

I'm sure it's not just me.  It's the little things that sometimes hit me the hardest.

Today I called home from work to leave myself a message (my brain is mush, so this is what I do).

As the phone rang through to the answering machine, I heard my voice:  'Hi, you've reached Sarah, Mike, Lucas and Emily.... please leave us a message!'.    But that's not really what I heard.  That's just what I expected to hear.  Instead I heard a different version, a version without the same bounce, without the same emphasis, without the name Mike.  I've heard this new version before, but today it really felt like a punch.  I can imagine others feel a bit of that when they call and hear that message too.  There is no getting around it.  It screams:  'There is someone missing here!'  

There is someone missing.  There is someone who is deeply deeply missed.