My oldest daughter, Grace, hoarded spare change for the last year. I would find her squirreling away money, gathering it in her tiny fists and depositing into a pink plastic pig. Her focus was singular -- when asked what she was saving for the answer was consistent: The Minnesota Great-Together. The State Fair is colloquially known as The Great Minnesota Get Together; Grace, in her pidgin</a> toddler speak, truncated it.
Time is cruel: anticipation draws out the seconds -- they slacken as the shadows do in late August. Time is particularly cruel to toddlers, and their parents, as a sensible explanation for it is elusive. "The Fair is nearly here", we would tell her, "a few weeks longer, Gracie". She waited. Patiently.
The Fair did come. It was magical.
She spent with care and measured restraint. She enjoyed the sights, sounds, smells, food, and the rides. The stories that come from her three visits this season still bring a smile; on difficult days I can close my eyes and take myself back there: to her wonder and her smile and her laugh.