Capture
The babble of serious little voices. The soft staccato patter of little feet. The serious little face: wide eyed, soft cheeked, rosy lipped. A chubby hand grabs my leg. Somehow, I give them comfort, my boys, yet I must seem so large and powerful to them. Still, their trust in me is simple and matter-of-fact.
It’s the thirteenth month of their lives in this world and they find all things of interest. Mulch must be tasted. Stairs must be climbed. Paper must be torn apart. I have a first-hand view of young minds trying to fathom the world.
I try to capture these moments. To really etch into memory their voices, their feel, their eyes. It’s so fleeting. I’m already forgetting what they were like just months ago. Why is that? I pull out pictures to remember and am startled by the changes since then. I try to remember because when I’m old they’ll come to visit me, grown and tall men, living on their own. I’ll look into their eyes–the very same ones I look into now–and will search for the boys they used to be. And when they leave I’ll try to remember the days I’m living now.
beautiful, Danielle. and inspiring/challenging, too.
It is so true. I echo what you said about trying to capture the moments..to really take in their feel, their voices, etc. I find myelf doing that so often and can feel so frustrated b/c I know, like you, that it is so fleeting. It is wonderful that you are seeking to cherish their little lives now knowing that it is not forever that they will be little. When they are men, though, you will cherish them in a different way but nonetheless than you do now is my guess.
Oh my goodness!!!!! YOU MADE ME CRY!!!! This is beautiful Danielle I love how eloquently you wrote these words. You should put this in a frame with a pic of them and hang it up. It is so beautifully written.
Made ME cry, too. So well said. It also reminds me to remind you to remind me (get it?) to lend you our videocamera to capture those voices and faces. Personally I would use it on an ordinary, non-eventful day –the days they’re tasting mulch, ripping paper, climbing stairs. We had a grad party for STephen today and were sharing memories and stuff. I said, “The past sixteen years have gone by way too fast.” And then I lost it.
that was really sweet.
That is so sweet!! Definitely made me tear up – I am trying to do the same thing even now, before the baby is even here.