The Enlightenment of Me

Sometimes, out of the wild blue yonder, a realization strikes you, and changes your perspective on things.

Obviously, since that's my opening line, that's what happened to me today.

And, again obviously, I'm going to share that with you, because I know you all wait with bated breath to hear the minute details of my engaging life.

Actually, its not my life that's so engaging, its Kevin's.  He's my entertainment, my sunshine.  Hell, he's pretty much my whole world.  How could he not be?  He's so damn cute and, well, entertaining. 

As much as he is my world, its easy to get caught up in the details of the day, and the tick of the clock.  So when we went out for a walk at 5 pm, I had been thinking we would arrive home at 6 and have plenty of time to make a decent meal, have bathtime, and read a few books, and get ready for a conference call at 9. 

Kevin had other ideas.  As we left Bethesda Hospital, he asked to see the water fountain on the grounds.  Then he asked if we could sit there for a bit.  Okay, I thought we'd sit for maybe a minute or two.  He discovered "corn cobs" and proceeded to collect every one within a one mile radius, carefully placing them on a bench.  For those of you who are ignorant to how Kevin's language works, "corn cobs" are really pine cones. 

At first I was kind of impatient and just wanted to get going.  You know, put him in the stroller and walk the 1.8 km to home as fast as I possibly could.  Then I realized how truly he was living in the moment and was enjoying himself as if there was nothing else in the world to think about.  He has no worries, no time constraints, no other thought but than what he was doing right at that very moment, and that was collecting all the corncobs within a one mile radius, which he was doing with the utmost pleasure. 

When we did start towards home, and I use that phrase loosely because we were meandering more than we were really walking, Kevin was walking and not sitting.  Now, Kevin is 4, he does not have the same sense of urgency that I do when walking.  We walked slowly, and looked at everything. EMS went by us, red, and we discussed EMS and what they do and why they take people to the hospital.  EMS are, in my opinion, fabulous at their job, so I simply explained that they need to take people to the hospital because the hospital has more equipment and medicine for sick people. 

There were so many things we saw on the way home, and talked about that I can't even begin to mention them all.  Days and evenings with Kevin are the best of times, and its rare that I count the hours till bedtime.  Even when I do, its usually due to me being in a bad mood, not because he is unmanageable or unruly. 

So there you have it.  My enlightenment for the day is mostly that I need to slow down to Kevin's pace and see all the wonderful things that he sees. 

He is my "why."