Does this happen to you?
Maybe it’s because I just turned 28 (going on 80), but lately, I find myself growing nostalgic for a moment as I recognize it’s forming.
It’s simple, quiet times when the light is just right. Sitting on the river, watching fireworks after the ball game. Waking up from an afternoon nap with pillow wrinkles on everyone’s cheeks.
My heart swells up and I brace myself for the tug as the moment begins to drift past. Like that sliver of life is a late summer dandelion about to be shaken free with a passing breeze, or a bubble freshly released from a wand.
All the senses engaged, it’s a feeling a photo can’t capture.
In the words of Annie Dillard, one of my all-time favorite writers:
“Last forever!’ Who hasn’t prayed that prayer? You were lucky to get it in the first place. The present is a freely given canvas. That it is constantly being ripped apart and washed downstream goes without saying.” ― Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
My dear, we are definitely cut from the same cloth because I find this happening to me all the time these days.
Well-said. I have this feeling every night when putting Corban to bed. That quote is lovely.