My trip to Richmond, VA yesterday was to visit my mom. I don't get to see her much, which I regret. And when I do see her, she always wants to reminisce. She talks about days when I was much younger and I smiled and giggled. Yesterday, she pulled out baby pictures. She recalled days when I watched the construction of our house, fixated by the machines and the complexity of a building project. And she searched my face, looking for signs of that person she remembered me being. He's been gone for years, but he's slowly--s l o w l y--coming back. Ironically, I mentioned how I didn't see my resemblance in the pictures--maybe it's the joy that looked so foreign. Didn't it all seem so much simpler then?

