These Small Moments

Words & Photography
by Kelly Havens



There comes a point in every sunny day when the rooms glow green, as if the outside has finally broken through the walls and bathed them in its lush warmth.

Some days I'm too busy to take notice. But I've been telling myself it's not okay. It's not okay to keep moving faster and faster, not noticing shifting shadows and sweet changes in light. It's not okay to ignore the quiet whines of your child who just wants to sit with you for a minute. The faster we move, the less our moments have any meaning, and the less likely we are to remember them.

I started a new thing with James. It's called, "Stop, drop, and read." If I feel like we've been going and going and haven't connected, we grab one of his favorite books and snuggle up right where we are in the warm green light around us. Even though these moments seem to accomplish little in the now, I trust that they will quietly turn him into a fine gentleman someday, certain of his mother's unwavering love for him.

Even though these moments seem to accomplish little in the now, I trust that they will quietly turn him into a fine gentleman someday, certain of his mother's unwavering love for him.

Life is full of these small moments that accomplish something invisible to the world. Little sacrifices that pave the way for something great to blossom all at once down the road. All we have to do is notice them and embrace them, so they can work their magic.

I can almost see his tall, lanky dark haired figure, standing on the porch, smiling at me. Confident and full of passion, because of the quiet love he knew all those years at home.