Tiny Treasures
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An early Sunday morning. Daddy is out of town. The big girls and I go for a walk in the neighborhood. The streets are quiet. There is a compelling breeze. Up ahead, a man selling fruit. I do something I don’t normally do. I take my girls’ hands and we approach. “Two oranges,” I say. And the girls and I pick the two we want. I hand Big Girl a crumpled dollar bill. Excited, empowered, she pays.
I tell the girls to sit in a doorway next to a barber shop that is not yet open for the day. They look confused, but oblige. They settle on soiled stone as I peel an orange. I hand them each a section. And we eat. It is the best orange in the world! we decide.
The girls are thrilled.
And I am, too. Suddenly, this tiny treasure – a street-sold citrus – has given us a moment. A small shred of meaning. Here we are in this big, fancy city soaking up the promise of a Sunday morning. The girls are happy. I am happy. This is happiness, I realize.
The girls don’t notice it, but I do. The lone word etched in the bricks inside the gate. Welcome. It’s a small word that’s also big. Isn’t this what we all want most? To be welcome in this world? To be embraced upon entry?
And in this moment, as I clutch orange peels and watch my girls, I feel a surge of something. What is it? Awareness? Pride? Gratitude? Love? I’m pretty sure it is all of these things. And more.
We head toward home, but the girls stop in front of the flower shop. They bend their small bodies to smell the potpourri of petals. They point at the rainbow of colors. And I stand back, all smiles, watching them take it all in.
For much of the walk home, I lag behind them. Witnessing their closeness, their true and evolving friendship, their glorious sense of wonder. My finger presses a small button on my phone, to capture this, these, these moments. My mind races to memorize this Sunday morning magic. That orange, those bricks and that breeze, that bounty of fresh flowers.
And it occurs to me that there are tiny treasures all around us wherever we are. They are hidden in the city and the country, in our hearts and our minds and our eyes. They are before us if we look, and smell, and savor.
On Sundays and all days.
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Have you experienced small moments that turned out to be cosmically big? Do the little people in your life help you open your eyes?
Lovely. Just so lovely. I think you know I believe this, deeply – even so, I always need reminders like this one to look. xox
I love when I catch these moments — especially the love between siblings after days when the love isn’t quite so obvious…
P.S. Hope Little Girl slept again after your jinxing post!
So sweet, simple and true. this left tears in my eyes…thank you.
What a lovely and touching post! I love the way you so beautifully put your feelings into words. Thank you for the reminder that there are tiny treasures all around us if we just slow down and look.
P.S. Just finished “Life After Yes” and LOVED it! Thank you
This post reminded me of my friend Rebecca Mullen and her blog: http://altaredspace.com. I found your blog through her, so it’s no surprise that you two both have ways of inspiring us to find the beauty and wonder in the simple moments of life.
Lovely post – reminding us to look about, we will be pleasantly surprised.
A really lovely description of a simple, and yet the best kind of, Sunday morning. Interesting to me that your husband was out of town because I have the same thing with my four year old daughter more so when it’s just her and I. We love for her Daddy to be there but I think that camaraderie when it’s just her and I…with no distraction of trying to hold a grown up conversation at the same time… is when I come closer to looking at the world side by side with her and it is an absolute delight.
Lovely day trip – with gorgeous photographs