Last summer, my
nephew Ernie, his very pregnant wife Mendi (due with twins in less than two
months) and their 2 year old daughter, Isabelle, came to Colorado before life
as they knew it would be forever changed with the addition of two little twin
boys. They called and told us they were
in Pueblo and wondered if we would drive down and join them for dinner. We promptly jumped at the chance since my
husband and I both adore Isabelle (as we do all of my great nieces and nephews,
but we just happen to get to see Isabelle more often because she lives closer).
James and I drove to Pueblo and met
them for dinner at a little Italian restaurant along the Riverwalk. After finishing dinner, we walked around for a
while and because it was such a beautiful evening decided to take the boat
ride. We had a great time riding the
boat and of course, Isabelle thought she could stand up by herself. That was a "no go" with any of us
and believe me, she tried. She walked
from Daddy to Momma, to Uncle James and then Aunt Jari. She ended up staying with me because I was
the closest to the front and she could see better. I did let her stand up but only with my arm
around her. As we moved through the
canals, it was so much fun to watch her get excited at every little thing she
saw. There were different statues/sculptures
of various animals/children/Indian woman with quilt in each canal and as we
approached each one, she would get a big smile on her face as she would point
and shout, "Look, Aunt Jari!" or "Look, Daddy!" We would talk about each of the different
statues. There are some things money
can't buy: the gas to drive to Pueblo -
$14, the dinner and boat ride - $65, the time spent with Isabelle and the
lesson learned - PRICELESS!
The pure innocence of little children
with their budding curiosity is always fun to watch. Children are inquisitive little creatures by
nature. When they see something, they
get so excited. As we got off the boat, there
were little picnic tables and seats over to the side. Isabelle ran over and climbed up into the
seat. Suddenly, her eyes just locked
onto something on that table. Now, mind
you, it was dark and the only light was coming from the tall streetlights and
the lights that were strategically placed around the Riverwalk. My husband and I stood there looking also,
but we could not see a thing! However,
Isabelle was mesmerized. I said to her
momma, "What is she looking at?"
Mendi instantly replied, "She
sees the ants crawling across the top of the table." Apparently, this was something she had done
before. She got so excited about seeing
those ants and was then just fascinated in watching them. Of course, James and I, with our
"old" eyes, could NOT see those ants crawling on the table at all!
What might have been an insignificant or
even unnoticeable event to most people was a huge deal to our little Isabelle. As we stood and watched her lock eyes on that
table and study that procession of ants, I was reminded how it really is the
little things in life that matter, the seemingly, trivial moments in time that
count. Watching our little Isabelle, I
was reminded of the old clichés that I grew up with, "Stop and smell the
roses along the way," or "Take time to enjoy the simple things in
life." --- Perhaps truer words were
never spoken. We move so quickly through
life that we sometimes lose sight of the important things in life and forget to
be curious like little children. Everyone
is always in a hurry to get somewhere, and there is always the "I don't
have time to do it today. I'll do it
tomorrow." Sometimes tomorrow never
comes. Those moments in time happen only
right then. We shouldn't pass them
up.
What would happen if we all stopped for
a minute and began to look at life through the eyes of the wonderment of a little
Isabelle? Wouldn't the world be a better
and happier place?
Share in the wonderment and curiosity
of a child. Stop and watch the ants
crawl across the table.
No comments:
Post a Comment