When it comes to visiting people with kids there always seems to be a window of opportunity when everyone is healthy that is somehow narrower than what the average astronaut has for re-entering the earth's atmosphere to land a space shuttle.
Last Tuesday night the window of opportunity for a healthy visit was briefly open as I was finally feeling better and my friend LeAnn reported that for at least the next day or two, it looked like her family of five were going to be sniffle-, cold-, and fever-free. Not wanting to waste a chance, I decided to quickly venture to Framingham for an evening of their fine company.
During the course of dinner, while I was attempting to carry on a conversation with LeAnn, the two girls, Ashlyn, age 7, and Gwyneth, age 5, took turns ever-so-politely interrupting us to whisper secrets in my ear. First it was Gwyneth with "I love you" and then, after I refused to tell Ashlyn what was said, she snuck over to my other side and told me a secret as well: "I love you very much." This went on for several minutes until Gwyneth decided to stop and write something. Even though she asked me to spell my name, I was not allowed to read what she was writing. When finished, she folded her paper and gave it to me, again whispering in my ear: "It's a secret note."
I know it's supposed to be a secret, but it's so sweet and touched me that I sincerely hope that she'll understand why I wanted to share it with my friends:
![[image: Dear Uncle Alan note]](http://www.execnet.net/users/alan/blogs/archives/alanskew/dear_uncle_alan001.jpg)
These are the notes of love with no strings. Keep them in your heart, love mom
How sweet! She writes extremely well for a 5 year old. I'm impressed!