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............................................................SAM AND DAD........................................................

When I'm alone with Sam, babysitting, he often hears the noise of a door opening (Paul and Sonja's neighbors seem to enter and leave at least once every few hours). When he hears that familiar sound, he looks up at me with a quizzical, hopeful expression, his palms up and open in a "well?" gesture, and says "da da?, da da?" I always feel like a criminal at these times, like I am keeping him from what he really wants. His dad.

But, in a way, it's all worth it. Simply to see the thrill and joy on Sam's face when it really is Dad at the door. Sam is a very lucky boy.

In the photo above, and this one, Sam and Dad are modeling the jersey's of their hometown football team, the Wolverhampton Wolverines (hope I got that right). If you look real, real closely you can see in the upper left-hand corner of the shirts a tiny graphic of a wolf. More prominently displayed is the team's sponsors: Doritos. I thought that was the name of the team. Very interesting.

Here's to Sam and Paul. A great team. Call them the Biscuits. It used to be the Rusks. But teams grow.