Perfect Moment

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“We love what we attend.” – Mwalimu Imaru

The other day something touched me at a deep level. I’ve been trying to peel back why ever since.

I’d picked four-year-old Mr. D up from preschool and he’d scrambled in the car and closed the door. I’d stopped to talk to a man walking his dog, and so it was a minute or two before I got around to my side of the car and realized Mr. D was crying. He’d tried to do his own seat belt and had gotten frustrated when the thing wouldn’t click. Then he got more frustrated when the belt got tangled as he tried to fix it.

When I opened his door to help, he reached up and with the back of both hands, swiped away the hot, frustrated tears from his eyes.

Something about that gesture just hit me deep down where it counts. I’m not sure I can even put it into words why. To the best of my translation, it’s some combination of the following:

Witnessing the dignity of another person

Gratitude that my kids’ problems are small at this age and I can mostly fix them

Realization of Mr. D’s sudden self-consciousness about crying

Commiseration with how frustrating technology and systems can be

Relating to how fiercely we want to do things for ourselves

The deep gut punch of how much I love my kids.

Whatever it was, it started to change how I think of perfect moments. They may have nothing to do with when we’re smiling and posing for a picture or spending a gazillion dollars on an experience.

I think perfect moments might be when the inside of me meets the inside of another, and in the process learns something real about being human.

40 thoughts on “Perfect Moment”

  1. “When the inside of me meets the inside of another” — that’s so profound and, I think, very true. The best moments in life are when we have those very human connections, not just the picture-perfect ones.

    Liked by 6 people

    3. I have to agree with you and Victoria about this, those moments are the ones I appreciate the most!

      Liked by 2 people

  5. You’re killing me here Wynne. I took a break from work to read a few posts. I read yours and now how I’m bawling and an emotional wreck. How am I supposed to attend my meeting now? Ugh. Yes, yes, you tell Mr. D. we all have our moments. I felt just like he did yesterday. My problem, trying to understand why something in WordPress was not working the way I wanted it to work. Of course, Mr. D responded much more constructive than I did. Second, thank you for the reminder that perfect moments aren’t the ones where everyone is smiling and posing for the camera. They’re much deeper than that. Yes, thank you!!!

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Ha, ha, ha! Emotional because you are a great dad so you feel it all the way through. 😀❤️

      Oh yes, WP create it’s fair share of tears, doesn’t it? You’re right, we’d be better off crying and being done with it, wouldn’t we?

      Liked by 1 person

  6. It’s so ironic that I found this today because I just wrote about taking a break from our phones to be able to enjoy our actual life around us.

    Those special moments with other people can happen anytime, especially with children. You can make your best plans to schedule a moment to be special, but ultimately we can’t plan it. Sometimes it happens unexpectedly, and if we’re not “present” (mentally) in the moment, we can miss it. We only get one chance to experience each moment. And since we don’t know when they will happen, we have to put in the time to experience those special moments.

    Thanks for the post.

    Liked by 2 people

  10. Wynne- this might be my all-time favorite post of yours -and there’s so many outstanding ones to choose from! Everything about it is beautiful. I agree wholeheartedly with Esoterica’s comments.

    Liked by 2 people

  12. Wynne, I resonate deeply with your reflections and comments about this seemingly simple moment. And, I want to take a moment to notice and applaud how mindful you were in order to be present and even notice your own thoughts and feelings in response to D’s. Just beautiful!

    Liked by 2 people

  13. It is always so hard to witness our family members in tears and this statement is so profound – “I think perfect moments might be when the inside of me meets the inside of another, and in the process learns something real about being human.”

    Liked by 2 people

  14. This is so beautiful, Wynne. You captured so wonderfully and succinctly about the immeasurable perfect things in life – family, love – and how they are the seemingly small moments in our days. 🙏💕

    Liked by 2 people

  17. “I think perfect moments might be when the inside of me meets the inside of another, and in the process learns something real about being human.” I love this definition. Thank you for sharing!

    Liked by 1 person

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