Food does have a magical influence on people and it seems — sometimes — of all ages. Just tonight, my 17-month old daughter, Lucy, tasted a butter cracker for the first time. Not since she discovered flowers have I seen her so taken with something.

She didn’t gobble it; rather she considered each bite. And with each bite her face shone with joy.

After she finished her first cracker, she put her hand out for more. Then, the magic…

She held the cracker with both hands tenderly, gazed down on it with twinkling eyes, smiled and spoke out to the cracker as if she was reciting a sonnet to it. As she nibbled, she turned to her father and me — pure happiness radiating from her being — and it seemed as though she was communicating to us “you must love me so much to feed me such a wonderful thing as this”.

In that moment, I imagined the world became a better place for a little girl.

The best part of all was her sharing her last crumbs with me.