“There’s so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once, and it’s too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst…and then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can’t feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my little life.”
~American Beauty
I just tucked the last of the littles in bed, in a room with an extra set of eyes and legs and arms, since we have cousins staying the night… one sharing the space of my kid’s room floor. After an adventure in jumping mattresses and giggle fits, they’ve finally succumbed to the sleep over-taking the atmosphere of the room. As I sat wishing away their distracted cries and tired fidgets, I realized that this too was a special moment with those tender and sweet, vulnerable and impressional minutes between holding on to daylight and giving in to twilight.
A moment I’m grateful for.
It’s easy to recognize grand moments, like life-altering births and pledging love ’till the end of days, first days of school and first steps. But what about all of the between moments, the paragraphs in which the climax of each chapter of our lives is written upon? When his hand reaches for yours while taking a walk. When baby boy grips you tight, because all he really wants, all he really needs in that moment is you. When big sister drops everything she’s doing a brings you a note filled with crooked hearts, drawn by five-year-old hands in bright purple, “Just for you, mommy.”
Moments I’m grateful for.
And even then, those tender times still have the magnitude of love tugging heartstrings, and I’m brought back to a dark room, lit only by nightlights and a tiny Christmas tree shinning glimmers of purple, red and green on the walls and ceiling, where three tired kids fight sleep by giggling at everything, sucking on fingers and flipping from front to back… and then front again. I sit there, thinking only of how early they’ll have to wake tomorrow and know this could end very badly, until I realize just how grateful I am to have three little ones, two of my own and another “borrowed” family member, getting along and happily squirming this way and that, needing to be told it’s time for sleep now, again. Or how blessed I am to be able to wipe each of my children’s ten sticky fingers and messy mouth after each and every meal. And the mornings I wake seemingly moments after I’ve fallen asleep, after tending to one and then the other all night, and realize through a fog of sleep deprivation just how aware I am of the gratitude I feel for their presence.
In the big moments and the little. The high-on-life bookends and the middle, filled with normal moments, tucked in the corner of a warm coffee shop with baristas calling out names and orders over the whir of steaming milk.
I’m grateful.
Also linking up with:
Adrienne says
It is those little moments that add up, over years, that knit us together and make us family. Noticing, remembering, really living IN them…so much to be grateful for. Love what you’ve written here and the heart you have!
That Janie Girl says
Love those little moments. My sons are 30 and 24 and I still remember those sweet times as you described. You are right to cherish them!
sema says
Thank you for sharing the beautiful moments and the captivating images.
Christina Lusk says
Perspective… Thanks, Tabitha 🙂 Just the right words for this “temp” single mommy. Love you so very much.
Suki says
Your babies are getting so big! Savour each moment!
Hannah says
Loved that quote, and I agree it is so important to cherish the little moments too, because after all our lives are full of so many more of the little things then the big. 🙂 Loved the pictures of you and the family!