Justine Harper is such a sweet little nurse. Bit bossy, but she comes by it naturally.

It chipped at my heart to hear Vernon say she is mostly mine and a little bit his.  And Justine agreed with him, with the deep brand of wisdom only shared by 4 year olds and their elders. I suppose because I’m the one of us caring for her this year, there is a current truth to it. But I don’t want either of them to believe she is more mine than his.

He never speaks this way about Maki…they have a much longer relationship and years of bonding. He is always spot-on when he refers to his son. But with Justine, he gets her name wrong all the time….though he understand that he is her father and she is his daughter.  I think some confusion surrounds her because she falls into his shorter-term memory.

I encouraged her to climb into the hospital bed so he could embrace her. She was nervous about all the feeding tubes, etc, but she managed to work around them. Maybe I was living slightly vicariously here, as I always feel nervous getting right in there with him. I feel bulky, big, a danger to him in my affection.  But she is little and sweet…herself completely, but maybe a symbolic love letter at the same time.

And suddenly, she was HIS daughter.  Once he got to hold her again, rather than just listen to her comic little monologues, I could see the shift. He absolutely knew. She DID belong to him…he could snuggle and kiss her like he should have been doing for the past seven months. Time folded up again and they were connected.  We often talk about the power of touch…but I think its more than just touch…its hugging, embracing, truly engaging that is healing. Otherwise, its just a handshake. Who handshakes with their own small, adorable child?

My camera made it a little late for the 10 kisses Justine gave her dad…but he obviously didn’t want to miss a one.

A kiss seals two souls for a moment in time. ~Levende Waters