Thunderchild's 14th Birthday

My darling, Thunderchild you’re 14 today.  A very happy birthday from a daddy that loves you very much.

Actually, your birthday started last night when your sister and her boyfriend brought you some presents.  It was such a joy watching you open the presents, especially the one that had the portable hard drive in it – the smile went around the face.  I know how long you’ve wanted one of those to store your movies on.  Now you do.  Of course, Emo needed to annex one of the pieces of paper for herself to lie on – weird kitty that one.  You gave your presents the most unique name I have ever heard:  “Cool Random Junk”, later referred to as “Awesome Random Junk”.

This morning I was the fortunate one to wake you up and sing “Happy Birthday” to you, along with all the other songs – couldn’t start the day off better than that.  I took you to the party shop this morning because, as always, you were thinking of other people.  You went and bought a whole lot of key chains for your friends for their birthdays and what not.  Proud of you TC.  Then, some totally random lady just walked up to you and gave you a hug and asked how old you were.  When she heard it was your birthday she mentioned that it was her 22-year old son’s birthday today as well.  I still don’t know what to make of that incident, but I’m sure we’ll find out some time in the future (connecting the dots…)

Lunch today was so cool with the family:  it was great having everyone there.  You also received some more presents from the rest of us (more CRJ).  I took the most amazing shots this afternoon of you, your mother, sister and the rest.  Just realized now that there were none of me, but that’s OK because my love is in the shots of you.

There was one that so totally captured you:  the way you look, hold your pose etc.  It seems odd now, but the last year or so I’ve been able to capture the essence of TC.  These shots go deeper than the skin:  they reach down to the very atoms of your soul.  Maybe you need to love someone very much to be able to get these.

Anyway, you’re back now from your sojourn with your sister and her boyfriend to Randburg, nogal.  Went to play putt-putt.  Glad you’re back safely, lying there on the couch with one of my Springbok T-shirts on.

Sleep tight, child of the storm.  Daddy loves you very much.

Colourless Daddy

Thunderchild walks into the bedroom, hanging her shoulders and head so that the hair covers her face.

“What’s wrong?” asks her mother.

“My daddy is colourless”, she replies.

…wavy lines…screen blurs…scroll back a few hours.

15h51.  TC calls me at work.

“Daddy, is your email still x@y.z?”  “Yes, or you could use me work email…Why?”  

“I need you to print something for me, please.  But I need 5 copies.”  “OK, sure.  Send it” I reply.

“OK, just wait.  Wait. Wait.  It’s on its way”, she informs me.

“Where did you send it to?”

“You work email”

“OK, got it.  I’ll print it and bring it home.  See you just now. Bye”

I open the document and click “Print”.  It prints one copy and I make 4 photostats of it (she said she wanted 5!).  Put on the desk so that I don’t forget it when I leave the office (I have a tendency to forget documents at work when I go home…).

Get home a short while later and TC comes running down the stairs to greet me.  I know what’s coming.  She goes to the other side of the lounge and waits for me to get ready.  I strike the pose – it’s very similar to the inside center waiting for the fly-half to pass the ball in rugby – I’ve been catching her like ever since she was a “certain” height.  She comes running at me, jumps and I have to catch her.  I’ve learnt by now not to try and catch her straight on as she’ll flatten me.  Just catch her from the side and swing – that works.

“Did you bring my documents?”

“Yes”

“All five copies?”

“Yes”

She eagerly takes a look at the documents to see how they came out.

“They’re colourless.”

You see, the default printer setting at work is to print in greyscale, not colour.  Somehow the colour thing did not get through to me. 

… wavy lines … forward a few a few hours

And that is why I was referred to as “Colourless Dad” for most of Thursday evening.  Later on she revised the document, put it down on my PC and told me to print it in colour for her.  I’ll do that just after this post.

She didn’t say I must print 5 copies, did she?