She pulled up a wooden chair next to me and asked if she could read the story of “The Sad Cat”.

“Of course you can’”, I replied.

I locked my computer and turned my chair towards Anna. She dangled her legs off the chair as she read to me. She tells me about a sad cat. Sad because a rat had a car and a top hat, but the cat had nothing.

Everyone needs a top hat.

She makes her way through each page filled with three-letter words and large illustrations. Anna glances my direction every so often to make sure I’m listening.

There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.

I don’t take this moments for granted because I botched the last opportunity with my youngest daughter.

But tonight was different.

Because the cat got his top hat.