I often sing “Goodnight Irene” at bedtime. On an admittedly cold and miserable walk home tonight along a dark jogging trail, I tried to distract my kids and inject some levity into the situation by changing the lyrics of that song. I sang:

“Last Saturday night I went walking,
To the food truck park with my kids,
They complained the whole dang time,
And made me regret what I did.”

Without prompting, all my kids sang the chorus, their faces lit by the moonlight as they spontaneously changed “Irene” to “Mommy”:

“Mommy goodnight,
Mommy goodnight,
Goodnight Mommy, goodnight Mommy,
I’ll see you in my dreams”

I walked the rest of the way home in silence, stunned by the heartrending beauty of their song.