A Shot in the Arm

After spending two weeks in Tokyo with relatives, my little girl is coming home tomorrow. Yeah, it's been nice having a bit of extra time to relax in the evenings after work. But, honestly, things have been a bit dull around here the past couple of weeks.

I'm a bit nervous, though, about seeing her tomorrow. Little kids have this plasticity about them that, almost literally, allows them on a daily basis to morph into different people. It's easy (well, relatively easy!) to deal with when you see them every day. After two weeks (in Tokyo!), though, I have no idea whom I'm going to meet at the airport tomorrow. Well, she's only six, so she probably won't come back looking like this, or anything. Still...

I remember the last time I went two weeks without seeing my daughter (last year). She'd gone into the countryside of Miyazaki to spend time with her grandparents and relatives visiting from Tokyo. When she came back home, the first thing she did upon seeing me was to give me a big hug and then punch me in the arm! I almost burst into tears on the spot. It was a token of love that I will never forget.