I'm sitting in the passenger seat of the wondervan, with my wife at the wheel. Everything in the world that matters to me is safely tucked in between the bumpers. Two of our three little folks have drifted off to sleep, while son the elder sits in his man-cave back in the third row, tuned out on his iPod, and nervously wonders why I'm looking back at him, smiling.
Because you're a kind-hearted, handsome man-child. That's why.
We're powering our way into the night, hoping for a safe, uneventful journey as the cloudy late spring sky slowly loses its light and gives way to a graying darkness. My wife and I speak in occasional, clipped speech, usually finishing each other's sentences. We've done this route through the hinterlands so often that we can almost do it on autopilot (almost!) We don't much enjoy the tension that comes with a long drive away from home. But we do relish the small moments of Levyness that these trips offer up. They're the kind of little opportunities that are lost to history if we don't at least try to grab ahold of them.
We're stopping now so that I can get back behind the wheel. As you can clearly see, I had nothing earth-shattering to report from my front-seat perch. But I wanted to remember this moment. I wanted to remember what it felt like when everything was simply right with the world.
Your turn: How do you know when your world is spinning right?
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# 23 of MY THIRTY DAYS OF THANKSGIVING
15 hours ago
7 comments:
I had to take a 140 mile round trip with a very busy business woman... and she talked on her cell phone -- dialing, answering , etc the whole way. she would speed then crawl and by the time we got back home I was a basket case.
I couldn't drive becuase it was her business car.
NEVER again. I couldn't go to sleep - I was so up tight. grrr
"How do I know when the world is spinning right?"
I know all is good when I read little stories like the touching one you just wrote. (I love your frequent references that show us your love of your family)
My son the elder just graduated high school, and we attended the ceremony Wednesday evening along with thousands of family and guests of the 420-plus other graduates. The students had their names and faces displayed on two giant screens adjacent to the stage, and intermingled were some childhood photos that we selected. I saw my son as a 4-year old with his fireman hat on a couple times that night.
It was probably 11ish that night after the five of us got home, and I went into the bathroom and cried a while.
The world is spinning right.
Yes, that is a moment you will remember many years from now...
Aloha from Hawaii
Comfort Spiral
That's a nice piece of writing! That's for sharing such an ordinary moment, and I know what you mean by looking at your child and knowing things are just right.
My world is spinning right when everyone in the house is sleeping, and I take a walkabout and look in on them. There is a true sense of calm: my older son, peaceful in his slumber, his hands crossed orderly one atop the other; my daughter, nestled amidst her blankets and pillows; my younger son, peaceful in his slumber, with toes peeking out from beneath his blanket; my husband snoring away; the dog, curled up on my daughter's bed, lifts his head to look at me, then settles back down.
Sigh...slumber awaits me too.
Beautifully written, Carmi.
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