Fortunately, I'm a morning person. Hours before any alarm clock goes
off, I swing out of bed and walk through the darkened house to my
waiting cup of coffee. After the cup of joe and a period of exercising,
I still have some time to cook breakfast for my three daughters before
we all head out for work and school. Usually the morning table fare
consists of eggs either scrambled, fried or in an omelet, buttered
toast or bagels, and fruit. On special mornings (like Fridays, to
celebrate that we all made it through the week), pancakes are on the
menu. I've been doing this for years, ever since our oldest (who is now
19) started school, and the girls, although appreciative, never gave it
much thought. That is until one day my youngest, who was in 5th grade
at the time, was talking with a group of her friends about what they
had for breakfast that day. Two of them had nothing, one a cold pop
tart and the rest only cereal. When they got around to Helen and asked
her, she rather sheepishly told them that she had a cheese omelet, hot
buttered toast, cantaloupe and water. They stared in disbelief. "Did
your mom cook that for you?" they asked. When she told them that her
dad had cooked it, and usually always does, she got even more
incredulous looks.
Now I'm not trying to make myself out to be
super dad, because truly I am not. When most dads come home at the end
of the day and play and do things with their kids, I am usually too
tired to do much. Mom carries the flag in the evening. When the sun
goes down and all the birds go to roost, I am ready to do the same. I
just enjoy that small piece of time in the morning when the day is
fresh, and I can enjoy it fixing breakfast for my girls. Our breakfast
time is a momentary lull before the hyper-kinetic rhythms of the day
take control. With the school year in full swing, these pauses in the
morning get the day off to a good start. Hopefully, when they grow up,
my daughters will look back on our breakfast time as fondly as I do.
Sincerely,
Henry Clay
Publisher
About The Cover:
Caitlin Shipley “hangs out” in her back-to-school outfit from Doodlebugs.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
TIM CONWAY
This Issue