Brightening My Day

When rain patters on the windows, the skies are gray, and writing doesn't flow as I think it should, the call from my daughter to pick up six-year-old Sam from school and play with him for a couple of hours is a welcome call.

At the school yard, Sam, all but his face hidden in his red rain gear, pretended not to see me trotting into the school yard near his room. I had a moment of panic before I realized that the red-hooded child ignoring me was Sam. He'd found a crawdad in the water at the edge of the school yard. Another boy had plucked it from the water. That was the highlight he wanted to share.

Once home, his newly acquired public library card got the spotlight. (I'd been taking him and using my card to get his books since only a parent or guardian can get a library card for a child.)

He had chosen four books, and asked me which two I would like to read to him. Naturally, the two I chose were not the two he preferred. We compromised. I read one of his choices, one of mine.

He wanted the new gold draperies in the dining area closed and the lighting that made the room turn to gold turned on. Sam ate his after-school snack bathed in the glow of the room. He said he liked the drapes best when they were pulled. In his admiration of beauty, he's his Mother's child.

The next excitement was preparing for his Moay Thai martial arts class. Sam loves the kicks he is learning in that class, and wanted me to stay and watch for the entire time. It's a kick boxing exercise, and I'm not crazy about it, but for now, Sam is. He got his red stripe signifying that he'd attended ten classes. He was very proud.

Sam was a lesson in the joys of small things--the sighting of a crawdad, his very own library card, his red stripe. I also got a thumbs up for warming his macaroni to his preferred temperature! Perfect, he said. I remembered to be grateful for my chicken, new potatoes and braised chard with dried cranberries for last night's dinner.

I'm grateful for the joys that Sam brings to my life. As I saw the telecast of children welcoming their dads up from the mines in Chile, I knew something of the joys those children would bring to the dads who had been underground for so long.