It Was A Moment

I had dinner the other night with a good portion of my children and their families --- it was a moment.

I took myself to a coffee shop Saturday morning. There was a 4-piece rock n'roll band playing ----it was a moment.

 I had dinner a couple of weeks ago at an Italian restaurant with an old friend. We spoke Italian to each other and to the waiter ----- it was a moment

I watched a woman listen to music on her own ----- she was having a moment 

 We try through photos, Instagram, email, or text but we can never truly capture these moments.  Certainly not in the exact manner in which they came to us.  Time passes and the moments become memories and the memories become harder to retrieve.  You know these moments; you can feel them.  The dinner conversation flows, no one is fighting to be heard, everyone gets their turn.  You learn something about them that you did not know before.  It feels comfortable and welcoming. 

You are present.  You are not thinking of what you did or what you have to do, you are there and there for everyone. All is right in your world and the world around you. The family is talking to each other, they are present and available, no arguing just experiencing the pleasant moment of attachment and love.

I have become far more cognizant of moments like this.  Or maybe I am just paying more attention as I am learning to get out of my own way and recognizing that the path is so much richer when you make room for others to walk along side.

Dinner with a friend and you realize that it is not just an acquaintance.  You understand that this friend can be trusted and therefore you are willing to share yourself and the friendship becomes --- a moment.

The struggle is recognizing these special moments and that can only be done through being present, focused, and available.

 Now the real trick is finding a place to put these moments so that you can retrieve.  That is the challenge and the struggle.  Rare and fleeting, these moments are butterfly wings in our fragile memory.

 Be present, acknowledge them when you experience them and be thankful they live in your memory waiting to be recalled.

It was September 11th yesterday – a moment that I remember in exact and in vivid detail twenty-two years later.  My hope is I will retrieve my positive moments in that same way without being assisted by tragedy.