A great San Francisco day

(And of course, I forgot my camera.) We had a beautiful day, which always makes me cheer up after a rough night (last night was very rough-- Daisy screaming and wanting to get out of bed, not asleep till 10, awake and going at 6 AM). But we had such a nice day today that I almost forgive her... almost. At her request, we went to the Conservatory of Flowers, and you should have seen how enthusiastic she was about all the plants, flowers, and lilypads. She was running all over the place pointing things out to her stuffed giraffe, Georgette (thank you, George and Jennifer). Then we walked to the de Young and sat out in the sculpture garden; we didn't pay to go inside and see the King Tut exhibit, but I am dying to see it so I think we're going to do that tomorrow.

Daisy had so much fun in the sculpture garden, digging the apple sculptures and the James Turrell "secret room" with skyspace. But the best part was that she met an adorable five-year-old named Audrey who wanted to play with her. It was so touching to me, and I'm sure I won't be able to describe it. This girl was two years older, and Daisy was staring up at her with starry-eyed love and admiration. (Daisy wants a big sister so badly, it isn't even funny.) She followed her around everywhere, and Audrey would make up games and Daisy would try her best to play them and follow the rules. She did pretty well, too, but of course, her physical skills and understanding of how games work are not the same as a five-year-old's. When Audrey finally went to eat with her family, Daisy insisted on going over to visit her at her table. Once there, she got shy and just kind of stared at her longingly and answered questions briefly. (Audrey was eating pizza and asked Daisy if she liked pizza; being weird Daisy, my daughter replied, "No, I like turkey, ham, and broccoli.") I finally dragged her away, but she wouldn't come back over to the benches where we were sitting. Instead, she planted herself in the middle of the lawn, staring fixedly at Audrey in the hopes that she would come back and play.

Luckily, Audrey wanted to play some more and when she finished eating came running back to Daisy. The two of them were so sweet together, running and playing, Audrey being patient with Daisy and Daisy trying her hardest to keep up. I'm not sure exactly why, but it kind of broke my heart. Daisy was so thrilled to be asked to play a game with an older girl, and the way she followed her around with big round eyes, pushing herself to try to do all the things Audrey did-- it just got to me. When Audrey climbed a tree, Daisy did not attempt to follow but stood at the bottom saying, "Be careful!" the way I always do. At one point Audrey had them racing to a tree, and she would get there first and say, "I win!" and then Daisy would arrive a few seconds later and repeat, "I win!" I guess what breaks my heart is seeing how innocent they are and having the hope (in vain) that the world will always be kind and accepting to them. Daisy doesn't know yet what it feels like to be badly hurt and rejected, but I know that she will, and it hurts me. (Yes, yes, I know, part of life and growing up and all of that. I saw a little bit of it yesterday happening already in Daisy's ballet class-- one of the girls being excluded and rejected by some of the others-- and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. So much cruelty lies ahead.)

Audrey's family was from Fairfield, and when they finally had to leave to go home, Audrey gave Daisy about five hugs and picked a flower for her. Daisy pretended an invisible Audrey was accompanying us home. I know the family lives in Fairfield, but I wish I had asked for their email address. I never know what's appropriate in these situations.