The notepad and Etch A Sketch help us get by. They’re fine, a tool that works, but I don’t want Lucy to have to change her way of doing things for me. I should be the one making an effort. It seems dehumanizing. Like I’m talking to a piece of paper, not to her. I don’t get to see the way her eyes light up when she’s sharing something that made her happy. I don’t get to see her smile when she asks if she can bring the dogs in for show-and-tell because I’m too busy flipping to a new page and jotting something down. By the time I look up, the moment is gone.
