Perfect

March 16, 2009:



Friday was a pleasant day. The kind of day you get into a slow and steady pace instead of rushing around at the end of it playing catch-up. I still found myself fixing dinner, Sabbath dinner, and dessert all at once, though, as the evening light began to wane. And as I had all of these things going at once, there was suddenly this moment.

I was standing at the counter, with the smell of onions frying on the stove mixing with the wonderful scent of the fresh air cold and sweet seeping in through the screen door, when three little children ran in, circling the table with their golden laughter. They swirled around each other like little tornadoes through the kitchen, curls bouncing, shoes clomping, and I wanted to just push the pause button and take it in for a few minutes.

The moment was so fleeting, though. Because the saying really is true: the days drag on and the years fly by. The food on the stove needed my attention and the children simply refuse to be “paused” no matter how hard I try. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was that touched my soul right then, maybe just the simple combination of things, maybe a moment of deja-vu of all those girlhood dreams, but I know I’ll hold on to that moment for years.