There was camera equipment scattered along the pathway in front of us and I wanted to be sure my 3-year old wasn't going to step on/ break/ destroy/ anything. Instantaneously, a very assertive black woman was shouting at me, inches from my face. Before I could process what she was saying my heart skipped a beat thinking I had somehow walked through the picture and prepared myself for a rambling apology.
"In the blink of an eye!" she said. "Look at her!," she pointed to her daughter,..and then at mine,.."This is gonna be her in the BLINK of an EYE!!" It took me a few seconds for my brain to send the thoughts to my mouth- without filtering my words, forgetting for a moment the inappropriate familiarity in which I was saying this to a complete stranger..I said, "So you're tellin' me to soak it in, aye?"
"SOAK it IN, GIRL!" She cheered.
Continuing on with inapporpiate familiarity, I mulled, "I know,..and I try,..but sometimes its just so hard- I get so caught up in "the work" of it all,..but you're right, you're so right."
I looked at her daughter, and the photographer who had both paused to watch this spontaneous exchange. "You look beautiful," I called to the girl,..(who I now felt a bond with) "You're gona love these pictures,.." I smiled at the mother with a gratitude that only mothers can understand. "Blink of an eye," she said, but this time softer, and looking at her daughter and not me.
I am truly appreciative of the efforts of that good Samaritian veteran parent. She is right, I know she is. I was so glad she had smacked me back into the moment. I wish more parents would do that for eachother. Smack me. Slap me. Shake me! Remind me that this time is so precious, for it will all pass so quickly. My annoyance with the fact that my daughter refuses to wear clothes will someday be just a story everyone thinks I'm embellishing. The look of sheer fascination on my 8-month old's face as she gazes every morning at her sweet, chubby baby hands, dimpled knuckles..will be just a memory.
I need to breathe in the smell of day-old dandelions that I forgot were in my pocket, given to me as a priceless bouquet. I need to listen,..reallly listen to my daughter singing "This Little Light of Mine" from the other room. My old sweatshirt with the baby- spit up on it,..I should save it with the same steadfastness, enthusiasm and awe in which Monica saved her dress. (Ok, gross..but you get my point.) I need to live in this moment. I need to sloowww it down,..feel it, touch it, taste it like the sweetness of the baby cereal that just got flung into my mouth.
As I slowly drove out of the park that day, everything seemed to vibrantly resonate the point of my annonymous friend. "Slow Down, Let Our Kids Grow Up," words above the 25 mph sign,...so true, I thought. So often I hurry this. I expect too much. I'm always thinking of the 'next' thing. But today, I was reminded in a BIG way that these LITTLE moments are the giants.
As I begin this blog, it is this new philospohy I hold in mind. I want to constantly remind myself to cherish all of this. "The Blink of an Eye,"...perhaps. But at least I'll have the foresight to look around right now and see all this wonder-- thank you Park Lady, thank you so much....
