What's different?

A few years ago my daughter Autumn and my son Jonathan were playing the game "What's Different?" In this game, one player turns around and the other changes something about their appearance. The other player then turns around and tries to guess the change. For example, maybe a button was undone or glasses were removed. After playing a few turns, Jonathan was having a hard time figuring out what was different with Autumn. Eventually he gave up. When he asked, she responded, "My name is Rico."

Sometimes change is pretty easy to see. When we show people pictures of our wedding day, the general comment is to Nancy, "Who was your first husband?" I looked very young; in fact, not long after we were married and owned our first house, someone knocked on the door. When I answered, the person asked if my mother was home. Today I have some grey hair which I choose to see as distinguished, weigh a little more, and can feel it more after a workout (when those actually happen).

Sometimes change is difficult to see. The changes that I want other people to see are not quite as evident as the wrinkles around my eyes. A year from now I want my kids to see a better parent, my wife to see a better husband, and I want to see myself as the person that I want to be.

Hopefully I won't be the same a year from now, with the only difference in that my name was changed to Rico.