My little girl and I were celebrating and, on impulse, I decided to take her for the first time ever to McDonald’s.  This was the best one with a huge indoor play area that has kids scrambling through tunnels on the ceiling like little mice in a maze.  I got us a small order of fries and she had already disappeared inside the tubes.  “Mama!  Mama!  Look at me!”  I pretended not to know where she was and her girlish giggles were worth ingesting a small bit of non-organic food when I have been so vigilant in our family eating healthy.  I took this picture standing on the floor pointing my camera directly up two stories toward the ceiling.  I love seeing her still-little hands peeking through and catching a glimpse of her beautiful dark eyes and curly hair.  I finally convinced her to come down and eat some fries which she loved.  “I TOLD you they’re the best!” I said in a smug tone I don’t often adopt.  It was so weird, having to explain to her about the Hamburglar and Ronald McDonald.  I had spent the early years of my life there but those were different times.  My first job was at McDonald’s when I was 15.  I had given her an old whistle I’d found awhile back and she exclaimed when she recognized it painted on the window.  It was a Fry Guy.  I remember the outdoor playground with the merry-go-round that I loved all through my teenage years.  Contrasting that, I looked up into the hamster tubes and the claustrophobic in me prayed I would not have to go up and rescue her.  But my girl is fearless and I should have known it would not be an issue.  When we left she was swinging my hand and said she had liked “Old MacDonald’s”.  I’m still waiting for the proverbial farm to get a decent, non-GMO veggie burger.  The world has changed and I found myself hoping they would change with it.

“Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.” ~ Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, and Nobel Peace Prize winner for “Reverence for Life.”