Her aunt and uncle told me this little girl at the Crystal Lake’s Main Beach on April 25th was just over two years old.

She was brave because the water was cold as it lapped onto her feet.

Maybe she had concluded that if the big girls up the beach could get their feet wet she could too.

It reminded my of my daughter Alexandra.

After visitation was determined—normal Daddy visitation for the times, every other weekend—it was fall of 1984. She was 2½.

We walked down to Beach 7.

On the way I got one of those cherished leg hugs.

When we got to the water, the wind was blowing probably as much as it was day the little girl in the picture stuck her feet into the lake.

There was foam at the edge of the lake.

“Can I touch it?” Alexandra asked.

“Sure,” I told her.

And she did.

= = = = =
The 2 1/2 year old in the bottom photo is my daughter Alexandra in September of 1984. She was feeding bread to the ducks in Lake Michigan. My ex-wife Robin Geist is standing next to her.