A morning of kitchen scrubbing followed by an afternoon at the cafe with my daughter, drinking coffee and doing the crossword puzzles. She is Newsday and I am The Times. Today, as usual, she kicked my ass. Finishing first and completely...me, lagging behind and not quite finding every word. We do this a lot.A couple times a week. She comes home from school, dumps her books and we head to the village coffee joint, papers and good pens in hand. Her favorite table is in back, mine is by the window with a view of the town clock. I have to be home soon for my younger daughter's bus so I like to watch the time. We get our drinks and begin. I'm sure folks wonder about us, as we barely speak on most days...so engrossed in our puzzles are we. But, we are together.And, really, I am quite proud. I am there, with my daughter, having fun. I am so lucky.

Julie