"THE GOLDEN MOMENT"

There are many times in my life when I have experienced what I call “Golden Moments”. Times when, for just one moment, everything is perfect--golden. You feel completely happy, content, at peace. You know it when it's happening. It's like you're outside yourself looking in, seeing the moment progress and elapse, like a slow exhale that releases all your stress. You know it won’t last forever, but you don't feel down about that--there's no time to. You just try to savor the emotion while it's there.

I had a Golden Moment grace me a few weeks ago that begs to be written down and remembered. I was driving home to my parent's house with two of my nieces and a nephew, (and our puppy Scout). It was the last day of their week-long visit; they would be driving home to California soon and I wouldn't see them again for several months. I wanted to stretch out every last minute I had with them, squeeze out one more smile, one more giggle, one more hilarious thing they might say. So we took the long way home, wasted gas searching out sights they'd never seen, and found steep hills to race down with our hands in the air. 

We were all crammed in my sister’s little Subaru Legacy, car seats buckled in, luggage in the trunk, drinks and dry cereal at our elbows. Their faces were washed, their hair was combed, they were fed, watered, rested, and happy. I was returning them home in fine condition. The only thing that wasn't fine was the dull ache slowly evolving in my heart as the moment of our separation drew nearer. 

It was a beautiful day, cool and sunny. The windows were rolled down to let the fresh air in and the cranked-up, hip-hop music out. There we were, four souls experiencing the same moment, the same feelings, our hearts pumping together as one. Boppin' our heads to the beat and punching the air in circular motions, we screamed to the sky, "WE ARE WHO WE ARE!" I tilted my rear-view mirror down so I could see the younger ones in the back and then left it there--I didn't want to miss anything.

It was then I realized I was inside a Golden Moment, living it. All three of them, from the four-year-old to the thirteen-year-old were mimicking me. Three pairs of eyes continuously flicking back to me; copying me, mirroring my every motion. I suddenly remembered a line from a book I read once that said, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." In that moment, I felt proud, I felt cool, I felt admired, and most of all, I felt loved--completely and utterly. My own love for each one of them swelled up so sweetly and thickly it threatened to seize my heart and drown my whole existence. 

It was bliss. 

It was the definition of delight. 

It was Golden. 

There's no way to tell how long it lasted, because time stands still when it's Golden. It comes and goes as gently as a cool breeze on a warm day. It's temporary...and delicate. I wouldn't have changed a single thing about that moment, however short it was. The memory of it still lingers in my mind even though the elation itself has blown away. That afternoon will go down in my book of life as something fine and beautiful. I will never forget it. 

If someone ever asked me, "What is joy?" I would tell them, "Joy is hand-soaring; music; blonde curls, and baby teeth."