Voicemail

April 27, 2007

While at work today, I had been working on my computer or talking to my colleagues when I looked at my phone and saw that my red voicemail light was on. Since I had been near the phone for several minutes and didn't hear the phone ring, it meant that I had not yet turned off my "Do Not Disturb" feature, which causes incoming calls to move directly to voicemail. Usually, those missed calls pertain to business matters and don't necessarily require me to speak with the caller. But this one missed call nearly broke my heart. Tiny had wanted to call me to ask me to come home. She wanted to play with me, so Melissa had dialed my work number and gave the phone to Tiny so she could surprise me. Of course, I didn't get the call. Instead, I listened to the resulting voicemail, and here's what I heard:

Hi Daddy ... Daddy!
I need you, Daddy!

I'll talk to you later. Bye Bye!

He didn't answer.

Melissa in the background: "If he's not talking, it might be his voicemail."

I called home just as fast as I could dial. Melissa picked up, had figured it was me and had told Tiny that I was calling to talk to her. Tiny was eager and happy to be talking to me. Hearing her sweet, happy voice, so pleased to be talking to me erased the heartbreak I was feeling. She wanted me to come home after work so that we could go to McDonald's for chicken nuggets and french fries.

"Then, after I eat my chicken nuggets and french fries, I'm going to drink my milk and then get my special treat."

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Actually, we all went to Sweet Tomatoes for our Friday night fun. Tiny usually eats a pretty good meal there. We ventured to the toy store after dinner where we pick up a couple of after-Easter Peeps stuffed animals and some new Littlest Pet Shop toys. Outside of her art, the LPS toys are her favorite occupation. Sometimes she merges the two by posing an LPS toy and drawing a still-life portrait of the pose.

She's a great girl.