I can't believe I would do this, but I am going to divulge my age on-line. Yes, I am 32! The reason I bring this up is to point out a few simple things I have realized through my 32 SHORT years.
As we all hear stories of what our parents and grandparents went through, how they were raised as opposed to how we were raised and always being taught to enjoy the simple things in life, things have quickly sped up. This day in age, life seems to blow by most people. Next thing they know, their children are married and out of the house,and they are cooping with being empty nestor's.
I wanted to share a quick wake up call for me. Events, very small, that made me sit back and think, wow, I am failing to enjoy the simplicity life has to offer at times. When I was 23, and living in Arizona my roommate asked me to go for ice cream around 9 at night. I remember thinking "that's weird, it's late, a week night and....ice cream?" Feeling a bit obligated to go, her and I met a friend at Cold Stone who just coming from her med school clinical in Glendale. I choose my flavors, toppings, and we found a spot in the crowded shop to sit. As I sat there while the two of them talked I thought about how odd I felt going for ice cream. I hadn't done that since I was a kid. In fact, I truly only thought kids did that.
After 2 hours of indulging in ice cream, girl talk that should have been left at the hospital doors, and enjoying a warm evening in the Arizona climate we made our way home. All I could think about was how strange it felt to enjoy something so simple as ice cream. How strange it felt to take a few hours to enjoy something I loved so much as a kid. I asked myself, "Why haven't I done this before?" Maybe because in in Washington the weather was never nice or maybe just because my life was such a hurry all the time, I drove past the most simple pleasures.
This morning, I awoke and my head was spinning, eagerly trying to figure out what to do with my day. I knew I had to go get coffee at the store. As my son and I walked to the car he said "Momma can we go see big tall buildings?" He has a love for Portland, being wedged between the tall buildings, cars zooming by and people all around. As I began to tell him no, I though to myself, what else do I possible have to do today. So I said "yes." Off we went......
Once in Portland, we made our way to the World Trade Center, had lunch at Anne's Cafe and rode the escalator 7 times. It was the most simple morning to me and the greatest morning for him. I realized he has an appreciation for simple things like the height of a building, a car passing by, a guide dog on the street and escalators. I want him to always enjoy the simple things, so today was a good day, for he reminded me of a valuable lesson that at times I forget.
On the way out of the parking garage we had to circle downward from the 7th floor. As I drove down Tristan said "Momma, we keep going in circles, did they close the door and we can't get out?" Oh, the simplest minds.
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