Saturday, March 11, 2006

Who's your daddy?

Today I rode the subway out to JFK airport to “pick up” Shawn and Reilly. I met them at luggage carousel one in the JetBlue terminal, and as I walked up to my girls, I have to say I was a bit nervous.

This morning, I went to see my barber, Marko, at the Astor Barbershop. After he gave me my customary haircut, I asked him to shave off my beard. With spring coming around the corner here in The City (it was a high of 65 today), I decided that it was time to be rid of my scruff. After Marko shaved the beard off and I gave a look at myself in the mirror, I realized that I looked totally different without my beard, and that Reilly might not recognize me without it.

So, when I walked toward Shawn and Reilly this afternoon, my heart was palpitating a bit as I grew near. When I reached them, I kissed Shawn and looked at Reilly and she gave me a rather blank stare, as if to say Mom, why did you just kiss this guy?

Shawn then turned to Reilly and said, “Reilly, it’s your daddy!”

Reilly still looked at me skeptically.

Then I said, “Reilly, don’t you recognize me?”

With that comment, her face lit up. She might not have recognized me without my beard, but she did know my voice. She reached out from Shawn and touched my chin, the way she has so many times before, but there was nothing for her to tug on.

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