The moon is absolutely gorgeous as I write this. All I have to do is look out the living room window to see it – and it got me thinking, and remembering, to a Sunday evening back in 1998.
I’d spent the afternoon with my son, just being together and doing stuff, and as it got dark, drove down to Golden Gardens in the old Saab, and as we were going around the big S turns on the way down, he looked up and saw the crescent moon in the evening sky.
“Look Papa! The moon’s a white banana in the sky!”
And so it was.
It was wonderful to see, and wonderful to see it through his eyes.
We got down to the beach, just as most parents were packing up and leaving, and built a sand castle in the wet sand, it clumping together – bits of shell and the like as we worked… The sand castle appeared over time to the sound of an invisible boat chugging up the Sound.
At this moment, I decided to put all my sensors on full alert, as I wanted to remember this moment, and saw and heard other parents with their children, trying not to blink as they grew up.
That’s one of the hardest things about being a parent, trying not to blink…
As the sand castle took shape, the sounds of the evening changed from children running along the beach and into the water to children bargaining for more time, begging for “just one more minute”, and parents reluctantly giving in, for that one minute, knowing that they’ll be vacuuming the sand out of the car tomorrow, but knowing also that a memory was made, and it’s one small grain of sand in the beach of a happy childhood…
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March 28, 2013 at 8:21 am
Bob Lammers
A beautiful story, written with wonderful feelings.Thank you.
I am currently in FL spending time at the beach, wishing my kids, their spouses and grand kids could be here to share it with us.I’ll just redouble my efforts to make the time I do spend with them in Ohio very special, creating precious memories there.
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March 28, 2013 at 9:23 am
tomroush
You’re welcome Bob. So much more to say – but you’ve pretty much picked up on it all there. Take care, be safe out there, and let them know you love them.
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March 29, 2013 at 10:18 am
Andy Galbraith (@DBA_ANDY)
A wonderful sentiment – especially with my three little ones being very little (<=3) every blink counts that much more…
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March 29, 2013 at 12:35 pm
tomroush
Yes, I’m astonished at how fast the time flies by… so easy to keep looking eagerly to the future, or wistfully to the past – and totally lose the present (not that I’d have any experience in that, mind you… ). My dad always drove me nuts when he talked to other people about not blinking, or their kids would grow up, like I did (like *all* kids do)
I didn’t understand it then.
I do now.
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April 5, 2013 at 8:21 am
Joanne St Charles
Beautiful Story Tom
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April 9, 2013 at 2:01 pm
tomroush
Thank you Jo
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November 6, 2016 at 8:12 pm
Annette M. Sullivan
This…
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