My job doesn’t require a lot of travel. Now and again, though, I have to hop into a rented car and head off into the world, leaving home and family behind.  Recently this happened for the first couple of times since my daughter was old enough to really notice and be bothered by it.  She’s five, and we’re close.

I couldn’t tell you what the commercial is advertising, but before I left on the first of my two recent trips, I saw a man on TV who had a small stuffed animal with him that he photographed along the way on his trip.  My daughter loves Webkinz, so before I left on the first trip, I stopped off at the local Hallmark and picked up a rabbit.

Just as the man on the commercial did, I carried the silly thing with me everywhere.  I photographed it on computers, at McDonalds, on a forklift, and all over.  I called regularly, but I think it was the e-mails sent through her mother with pictures of this rabbit that she had yet to meet – that was watching out for her Daddy – and that gave us a connection we might not otherwise have had – that kept her smiling and her spirits high.

I don’t know how many of you have tried to talk and communicate on the phone with small children, but it can be awkward, and less than satisfying.  With the rabbit to talk about, the e-mails to discuss, we had laughter, and smiles, and when I got home both Daddy and the rabbit got a lot of hugs.

Sometimes it’s the simple things that matter most.