August 11, 2010 @ 6:15 am | Filed under: Family,Pure Sunshine

“A smile is the light in the window of your face that tells people you’re at home.”

There is something about the smile on the face of someone you adore  – with a cRaZy kind of love –  that makes every single thing just a little bit better.

That smile can make cloudy days appear sunnier, heavy loads a little less cumbersome, and the darkest of nights a bit brighter. It can melt shyness, dissolve anger, and restore feelings of pure goodness.

Saturday was a day saturated with these smiles. Just thinking about them now makes me start smiling all over again. My camera wasn’t fast enough or good enough to capture all the smiles on display. Of course, one of the problems may have been that I was just too busy holding babies, chatting with Carter about his first-ever tag football practice, hearing about Amy and Paul’s vacation, and laughing with my brother and sister-in-law.

One big, long table during the middle of the day – filled with some of my favorite people. Sounds of laughter, kids playing, shared stories…

It’s in these moments – when I am sitting sandwiched in between my brother and Amy, with the sound of the grands playing with Andi, and the sight of my husband loving on the nephew across the table from me – that I feel so completely surrounded by all that is good and sound and right in this world.

It arrived again on Saturday, that feeling of perfect contentment. Of fully appreciating living this life of simplicity. Of daily making the choice to see the beauty in the everyday, in the people we love and in the life and home we’ve created.

Because  no matter what stress we may face from time to time, no matter the challenges that almost certainly lie ahead, and no matter what changes sometimes detour us, the reality remains the same.

It’s these individual moments that make up a lifetime.

I don’t want to miss a moment. Not one single…

smile.

Tags: Family, grandkids, living simply, memories