The omelet I did not make

I stepped out of the shower when I heard my daughter shout out “Bye…” as she sped down the stairs to get to school on time. I quickly wrapped myself in a towel and rushed towards the stairs and asked “…did you have breakfast?” Without looking up she replied “…I grabbed a yogurt..” and off she went. Later that morning my wife called me at work. Laughingly she said “Our daughter is really upset that you did not serve her breakfast this morning!” For a moment I felt very bad and disappointed with myself.

That’s what I do every morning! I fix breakfast for my daughter and make her a modest sandwich for lunch. Her breakfast typically consists of two eggs, sans the yellow, beaten up to be a fluffy omelet. She hates egg yellow. The omelet has to be just right! From my point of view as the morning chef there is very little room, between 6:30 and 6:45 AM, for any mistakes in my culinary creation as I expect my hungry daughter to walk into the kitchen at any time.

Yep, necessity is the mother of invention! I have come up with a very innovative method to extract just the egg white in a repeatable and accurate manner in less than 3 seconds. The engineer in me is actually awake! The innovation did take a few weeks of concerted effort, a lot of wasted eggs and an uncanny determination to not “chicken” out! Mornings provided opportunities to perfect my ability to toss omelets 8 inches into air and back safely into the pan, all with a deft 30 degree anticlockwise flick of my right wrist! Bringing these nifty techniques to bear, I serve up my daughter her omelet with a garnish of salt, a slice of toasted wheat bread and a dash of Sriracha sauce to spice up her day.

My daughter must love this breakfast I conjure up every morning!  She devours it and dashes out of the door every day. But that day, a bit of sluggishness on my part robbed her the joys of breakfast. She must have walked into the kitchen and noticed that her breakfast was not ready and waiting on the kitchen counter! Where is dad? Oh, what agony she must have had to endure? No one to care for her at 6:45 AM!! Yogurt doesn’t constitute breakfast!!

As I laughed along with my wife, phone in hand, I felt the warmth of my daughter’s love for me, something she doesn’t necessarily express every morning as she enjoys her breakfast and dashes off. But now I know she feels it. The omelet that I did not make for her that morning expressed it all!

Dear daughter, thanks for waking me up to your love!