Sunday, April 15, 2012

It's the Little Things

Yesterday I discovered that there may not be a happier sight than 9- and 10- year old boys at Dairy Queen laughing like idiots with ice cream all over their faces.

I love those little moments.

Funny how in that second, I felt completely content and happy.  And it's probably a moment the kids already have forgotten.  I started thinking about those times that do stick out in my memory, and how sometimes what seems insignificant to you at the time will just stick with you.  And how many moments do we have in our lives that seem so big that you're convinced they are practically life-altering, only to completely forget about it fairly quickly?

When I lived on campus during college, I lived right by some train tracks.  In a couple of big houses that were next door to each other that housed all college students, almost all marching band members, and all of us close friends.  It was a very happy, crazy time in my life.  There was one night when a very close friend of mine and I were awake way into the morning hours.  That happened often, of course, but this night was just a regular night.  No parties, nothing special, we were just chatting.  We decided to walk over to the bridge over the train tracks in the middle of the night, so we just got up and went.  I truly believe that's one of the most special things about college--that freedom.

We walked over and stopped at the middle of the bridge and sat down, our feet dangling down as we kept chatting.  A train came through, and I remember feeling like it was only a few inches from the bottoms of our feet.  He and I just watched it go under, eventually got too tired to stick around, and just went back home.  There wasn't anything that significant about that night, I had many crazier nights, for certain.  But I remember almost every detail about that night.  The way the train sounded, the cool night air, the way the bridge shook as the train went through, how comfortable I felt with my friend.  In that moment, I'm sure I didn't think anything of it.  But it ended up being significant to me.

That was about 20 years ago.  Yikes!

I'm thinking about my life, what were supposed to be the most significant moments.  It's funny what happens to our memories.

When I graduated from high school:  I have absolutely no memory of walking across the stage.  No memory of what my cap and gown looked like, even.  I remember my brother was in town, and we had to have a lock-in party all night at the high school.  We had to go.  I just wanted to hang out with my brother. I don't remember anything about the all-night party except that maybe I should kiss Kevin Abrahamson, even though I had a boyfriend!  I never did, but why is that what I remember?

My wedding:  I only vaguely remember walking down to the dock (we got married on a lake) in the processional.  I think most of the ceremony that I remember is only because of the pictures we have.  I remember walking off the dock after we were married and the hubby leaning over to whisper to me that he was going to push me into the lake.  He's hilarious.  And I remember laughing with all my friends.  And the wedding night, but that's for my brain only.

When my first baby was born, the thing I remember most is when they wheeled the bassinet in and it dawned on me that this wasn't only the end of a pregnancy, there was an actual baby at the end of all this that they were going to send home with me!  Holy crap!  I don't even remember the "it's a boy!" moment.

I think I have a point with all this.  We get so caught up in the drama of all our day-to-day crap.  With relationships, parenting, cleaning our houses, paying bills.  Sometimes it would do us all some good to take a break, sit down and really think about stuff.  What seems so critical, so life altering right now, might just be a blip in the radar.  Let yourself really be in the moment sometimes, smell the air, pay attention to those little things.  Because those are what are going to matter down the road.

Have a great day, folks.

2 comments:

  1. You're so right about the little things. I treasure the moments that my girls make each other laugh and no matter how grumpy I am it always makes me smile.

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  2. It's like therapy sometimes, isn't it? Thanks for reading! :)

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