[caption id="attachment_1034" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Maddie"]<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/20110416_3.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1034" title="20110416_3" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/20110416_3-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /></a>[/caption]

Whenever I boot my computer up, this is what I see.

My screensaver picture, which changes from time to time, almost always is a picture of my granddaughter Maddie, who is now 2 1/2 going on 3.

Maddie has one thing in common with her lovely mother, which is that they are both extremely photogenic and both have wonderful smiles.

I hadn't even realized it, because I see her courtesy of Skype just about every weekend, but it has actually been more than 15 months -- Christmas 2009 -- since I have seen her in person, and it will likely be this fall before I see her again.

That makes me sad, but it's strange. Just the idea of Maddie makes me happy. Just the idea that there is a wonderful little girl out there who calls me "Grandpa" gives me a really good feeling.

I never knew Pauline or Virgile when they were 2 going on 3, but I have seen the pictures and it's pretty obvious to me that both of them were adorable. One of the shortcomings of being a stepfather is that you usually don't get to be there from the beginning. You get there in the middle of the movie and all you can do is enjoy it for what it is.

And what it is, is wonderful.