“This is for you, for Father’s Day,” she said, pedaling off on her bike after I took it from her.

“Ohhhh ... thank you so much, sweetie!” I called out to her as she rode away, looking back to make sure I had the gift in my hand.

After closing the door, I looked at the envelope, “from Dani” and “To: Jim” written on the back in a tenuous, second-grader scrawl. Opening it, a carefully folded sheet of stationery, the same scrawl reading:

“To: Jim From: Dani,” underlined and then, printed below, “happy Father Day I wish you have a fun Father Day Jim your nice and funny.” Beneath it all, a smiley face drawn, speaking of the breadth and width of a nine-year-old’s heart.

I cried. Not in that in neurotic, maudlin Glenn Beck way but with a genuine flood of emotion. Missing my children, of course, but mostly touched by the fact that my little neighbor remembered that my kids were 200 miles away and that I was alone today.

It’s just after 3 p.m.. and it’s already beer-thirty for me. Hammering out this week’s column, a piece on building a house and a Lego-like approach to my novel, I am incapable of drawing upon even a scintilla of snark or cynicism — it escapes me.

The bittersweet atmosphere made sweeter and less bitter by the light tap at my door this morning.

Thank you, Dani, more than you know.

With that said, I dedicate this list to the angel of my Father’s Day, this Random Shuffle 10: Not Just Another Day Edition:

TV on the Radio – Golden Age

Dr. Dre (feat. Eminem) – Forget About Dre

Weekends – Raingirls

Ciara (feat. Ludacris) – Oh

Suckers – Easy Chairs

A Place to Bury Strangers – Lost

Feeling Burial – Archangel

White Lies – E.S.T.

Andrew Bird – Banking on a Myth

Bob Dylan – It Ain’t Me, Babe

And, as always, that Bonus #11:

Phoenix – 1901

See you on the boards!