solitaire

my seven-year-old daughter is one of only two girls on her t-ball team. tonight, before the final game of the season, the league hosted an outdoor banquet where food and drinks were served to the players and their parents. seven's best friend on the team, the only other girl on the squad, was late arriving for the banquet. just before the food was served, i noticed that my daughter was looking around for someone to play with. unfortunately, the boys from her team didn't seem very interested in spending time with her. they were more interested in doing whatever it is that seven-year-old boys do. seven's mother was helping out with the food service while i was busy keeping an eye on my two-year-old at the playground. as a result, when seven finally sat down to enjoy her pizza and soda, she was all alone. seven found an empty spot on a small hill near the baseball diamond. when i looked over to see what she was up to, i couldn't help but take notice of her solitude. and i don't know why but it absolutely broke my heart to see my kid seated on the side of that hill all by herself, eating her pizza and pretending not to notice all the other kids laughing and screaming and playing around her. now this may be difficult for some of you to understand but when my kid feels sad or lonely or disappointed, i feel it too. and it probably hurts me more than it hurts her because i am old enough to realize that this is not the last time that she is going to feel that way and there is absolutely nothing i can do to stop it from happening again. eventually i sauntered on over to my seven-year-old to keep her company while she finished her meal. at one point during our sitdown i asked her why she was eating alone. her reply: "sometimes i like to be by myself, dad." i certainly know my daughter well enough to know when she is telling a fib. and the fact that she was trying to hide her loneliness by putting on a brave face made me feel even worse. but what could i do?