Stalking Fed Ex

My ten year-old daughter has become obsessed with Fed Ex trucks. An unusual obsession, to be sure. I think it all started when I was waiting for a package one day and asked everyone to be on the lookout for the truck, so we didn’t miss it. And ever since then she gets super excited each time she sees a Fed Ex truck.

It makes her so happy that now it makes the whole rest of our family happy too. Like we squeal with delight every time we see one, and if possible, I try to capture a picture of it, so I can show my daughter when she returns from school.

It reminds me of when my son was about three and every time we saw a firetruck we’d all get so excited, anticipating his excitement. I still get excited when I see a firetruck, even though he’s long moved on. Inside, a surge of unbidden joy erupts, before I remember my son doesn’t care anymore. But the joy is there, nonetheless.

So that’s how we are about Fed Exes now too. We cheer, all of us, when we see one. A whoop goes up, even from my son, knowing that it’ll make my daughter happy that we’d seen one. I snap a photo for what I’m starting to think will be a book of pictures of Fed Ex trucks that my daughter can page through when she needs a smile.

The cool thing about all this is we have a new, random thing to be happy about. Another sign that the Universe is full of bright signs and little bits of joy.