Little Moments

"All life's made

in these small hours

these little wonders

these twists and turns of fate

Time falls away

but these small hours,

these small hours

still remain. . .

I cannot forget the way I feel

right now

in these small hours,

these little wonders

these twist and turns

of fate"

~Rob Thomas

I've written before about my reason for naming my blog Hinges, about the small moments that are the sum of our lives.

Tonight I talked on the phone with my Grandma for about an hour.  Just about anyone who knows me can tell you of the great love and deep respect I have in my heart for both my grandmothers.  A couple of days ago, I came across these photos on Doug's phone--photos I didn't know existed, about small moments in my life that would seem quite inconsequential to anyone else.  But, having lost my other grandmother when Keilana was just a tiny baby, I know that a day will come when these pictures--my grandmother holding my baby--will be one of my most treasured possessions.  This is what life is all about--so much more than the grand histories or stirring philosophies I love to discuss.  Life is about these day to day moments where we talk about little things in our little lives and become, moment by moment, the people we are and make, moment by moment, the relationships that matter in our lives.

Why do these little moments--captured in honest photographs--become such tender memories in our hearts? Its because every human being, whether they ascribe to any particular religious philosophy or not, knows instinctively (in that most divine and wonderful part of them, with that measure of light with which they entered the world) that this is how things should be.  There ought to be a linking of generations, a promise of tender and meaningful connections continuing beyond the shadow of death.  That the image of my grandmother holding my baby is one I can hold onto not in mournful loss after she is gone, but rather in looking forward with hopefulness when the promise of that moment is fulfilled.  When they will grow to know and love each other completely, in an unending bond of eternal love, families linked together, husband to wife, father and mother to child, and then, of course, amazing grandmas to beautiful little great-granddaughters.  That's the promise of the sealing--the promise of forever.

I believe quite strongly that we glimpse eternity most strongly in the smallest moments, where we could almost miss it if we weren't paying close attention.  We stopped at Paul and Christa's the other night to pick up the baby and puppy that they had babysat for us and the sitcom they were watching was just ending.  The episode centered around a fictional 9-year-old rock star and in the closing scene, the show's star was playing a song with the little girl.  In the way he smiled at her I could see it and asked, "Is that his daughter in real life?"  Lo and behold, it was.  That look on a parent's face when they are "in the moment" with their child, their heart aflutter at the beauty and wonder of their own child, that's what eternity looks like.  Real joy is not found in status, wealth, toys, vacations or anything else of the sort.  Its in a Tuesday afternoon at Grandma's house, chatting about the comings and goings of those in our life that we love, eating a few sugar wafers or a handful of Trix and knowing that you are loved.