Last week my friend Janice asked me a simple question: Does my daughter like ice cream. I had to say I didn't know.
"What do you mean, you don't know. You don't know if your own daughter eats ice cream?" she retorted.
My two daughters and I are faithful in keeping in touch via phone at least twice a week. We are "sharers" and I think we have plenty of in-depth conversations, way beyond superficial talk.
If anything special or significant happens to any of us, our first instinct is to "tell the family." We definitely share the ups and downs of our lives. And we each like the fact that we are fast to share feelings.
But there is only so much we can know about each other without extended visits. I can't assume my daughters like the same things they did when they lived at home. We each evolve over the years. I've changed a lot during the past ten years and I know they have, too.
When parents and adult children live near each other, they know more about the minutia of their everyday lives. They don't have to ask, do you like ice cream? Or, what kind of breakfast cereal do you like?
For the first time in at least three decades, my daughter Maria managed to schedule time off from work to fly to my home in Florida for a long visit. As I prepared for her visit by stocking up on food, I realized I didn't know her food preferences, beyond her old favor