Best place .09  |  the front seat of my car, 6:45 a.m. to 7:15 a.m. weekdays

It's not that we don't love each other.  Or that I don't get what it's like to be a 16-year-old girl or the oldest daughter in the family.  But sometimes Lauren and I clash, caught in a pattern of misunderstanding and frustration. Sometimes I lecture for so long, even I get tired of the sound of my voice.  And, yep, sometimes she gets a look in her eye and set to her jaw that tells me she's just not listening.

Every morning I drive her from her before-school religious education class (seminary) to her school, a drive that takes about 35 minutes.  As we watch the sun rise and the morning mist lift, we talk.  I hear about who likes who, fire drills, friendship dynamics, styles, rumors, her dreams, her crushes, her fears. We share music and opinions.  Car rides have become our DeMilitarized Zone.

The best place of 2009 is the front seat of my car, every morning of the school week.  Before long she'll have her license and be self propelled but for now I'm milking those morning moments for all they've got.

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Day 11 of the Best of 09 challenge.  What was your best place in 09?