I remember the excitement of taking her to the toy store and wandering up and down the aisles until we saw it….a shiny red bike. She wanted it soooo badly. We told her it was a bit too expensive. As we started to walk out the sales person came up to her with the bike and said …happy birthday.
I never saw it before or since, by anyone at any place, but she literally levitated. She literally lifted off the ground and was suspended in air by the sheer joy of the moment.
It was over 30 years ago yet it still brings a tear of joy and a lump in my throat.
Such precious moments. Such innocence.
Maybe that is why new things…special things…still hold us so. It is the trip back in time to those simple moments of giving, sharing, caring and believing in the moment. The importance of the moment.
Today, it all seems so jaded. So interchangeable. But every once in a while you can touch that special moment that then lasts forever. It usually is about giving but, every once in a while, it is that shiny red bike….maybe in the form of …fill in the blank… that is your ticket to 30 years ago as you watch your daughter levitate as she sees the gift.
That day the gift was simply being present for the present to a sweet little child.
Today she is a mom. Today she is taking her child to the toy store. Today she is presented with a gift of giving and watching the joy. Today she lives the memory.
It has been said by far wiser than me that each day is our only day. Everything else is just a maybe. Maybe this all takes place in just one day. If so, play nice in the sandbox and share.
An ageless experiment.