Unalloyed joy

No, you did not misread the title, nor have I chosen it merely to manufacture an excuse to pour scorn on the feeble, delusional weaklings capable of experiencing such an emotion. I am simply going to report an unusual feeling that I experienced earlier this afternoon.

Since I moved out of my home a couple of weeks ago, I have seen my two young children only a handful of times. The agreement with my wife is that the kids will spend Saturdays with me and that I will collect them from school on Tuesdays, take them swimming and cook them supper.

I still go to my former home every day, however, to work in the garden, my gossamer-thin link to sanity. This afternoon I saw my kids there unexpectedly, when our child minder was getting them out of her car. It would perhaps be more accurate to say that they saw me. As soon as they did, radiant smiles broke out across their beautiful faces. 'Daddy!' they cried and ran to me, arms outstretched. I swept them up, one in each arm (no mean feat given that their combined weight is 35kg and I'm fat and unfit), and hugged them hard.

Unalloyed joy is what I felt and its echoes are still ringing inside me, hours later. Thank you, Elsje and Pieter, for making your old man's week.

Happier days