Don't Go

My days have been long and arduous, as I am preparing for the VA bar exam. I frequently get home around 11 at night, so I miss the majority of my Jewel's days. It pains me to see her grief growing - she desperately wants me to be near her. This morning, as I was packing up to go, sh grabbed my arm and wrapped her entire little body around it, and begged with me not to come home late; that she wanted to see me before the day was done. In my sorrow, I could only say that the ordeal was almost over.

...

As I returned home that night and passed by hear room on the way to bed, she awoke, waiting and calling for me. She couldn't let the day end without some one on one time with me. So for the next 10 minutes, we sat quietly in the dark together, talking about the spaces in between a 33 year old worn out dad and his 4 year old little Jewel. And as she drifted off to sleep, she said again, "Stay with me papa, just a few more minutes."