I miss her, too.

My best friend, Cara, who lives in Vermont, sent me a message on my birthday. This was part of it:

In fact, we discussed your birthday in the preschool class room earlier today. And I'd like to share with you now how the conversation unfolded. You see my children have been taught to sing the "happy birthday" song as they're washing their hands so we know they've actually scrubbed their hands and rinsed them as they should. They insisted today that I do the same.

So I sang the song and as I neared the end I sang "Happy Birthday Dear Mickey Mouse! Happy Birthday to you!"

They all started chorusing "It's not Mickey Mouse's Birthday!"

And I laughed and said, "Oh! You're right! I'm so silly!" Then I sobered the mood and said, "Actually, though, it is my friend's birthday today. Her name is Amanda and she lives nine hours away from me."

Which of course prompted the most frequently asked question a preschooler could possibly pose, "WHY?" 

"Why?" I replied, "Because she and I went to school together but now we're all done with school and I am here with you and she is spending time with some kindergarten students where she lives."

And this one little boy named Tucker who I love dearly says very quietly, "Do you miss her?"

And I said, "I do".

And he said, "I miss her too."

Oh man, it melted my heart! (And so did the rest of the message! Cara, I miss you, too!)