We’ ve all have heard that we should ‘be in the moment,’ or ‘enjoy each moment to the fullest.’  This advice for living may sound trite, overused, but there is great truth in those words for one never knows when the moments will end.   When three generations of my immediate family gathered in Florida last June  to celebrate my dad’s 90th birthday, I found that I was joyfully living that advice.

It’s a rarity for my family to all be together in one space since we come from various regions of the country.  I found myself scanning the room the first night we were together watching the interactions, the conversations flying across the circle between us.  The laughter was contagious.  It was as if we hand’t been separated by thousands of miles.  My dad was sitting in ‘his chair,’ a broad smile on his face, listening, enjoying the stories being told.  From time to time he would look my way all smiles.  I couldn’t help but smile  back.

I enjoyed the moments of each day we were together.  Memories were photographed and stored in my mind.  There were bushels full of love given and received in just a few days to each of us.  I was ever so grateful to still have my dad and my 89 year old mother with me, with all of us.

My time with my family in celebration of my dad’s 90 years reminds me of a special time with my maternal grandmother long ago.  She was visiting my parents in the summer as she and my grandfather usually did.  During her stay, she spent a bit of time in a local hospital.   Shortly after she returned to my parents” home, she asked my son and I to come for a visit.  We couldn’t come that day but came a day later.  While we were there, she sat in the recliner in my parents’ living room and watched silently as my 18 month old son played on the floor.  She said nothing, but smiled, relishing, I believe, each moment watching her little, great grandson.  She was totally absorbed in his play with me, with my parents’ dog, and with his toys.  She was definitely in the moment.  We all were in the moment even though conversation between us was absent.  We were present with each other.

When it was time for us to leave, I gave may grandmother  a hug and kiss goodbye.  She kissed my son on the forehead.  At the door I said, “I’ll see you again tomorrow for Dad’s birthday.”

“I hope so,”  she replied

“Of course you will,” I said.  And then I left with my son, a little surprised at her comment.

My grandmother didn’t wake up the next morning.  It was then that I understood her comment to me as I left the day before.  And I understood her watchfulness, her absorption in my son’s play.   She was completely in the moment recording in her mind our visit, her great grandson being a little boy at play.  She knew that she might not have another moment with us so she enjoyed each moment to the fullest that day, and so did I.

How about you?  Do you enjoy each moment to the fullest?  Are you really present when you sit down to dinner with your family?  Do you appreciate a one-on-one moment with your child, notice a colorful sunset, enjoy a walk in the woods, or  the honking of Canada geese as they return in the spring?   I hope that you do.  I hope that yo enjoy each moment to the fullest.  Be in the moment, and the next , and the next,  for each moment is all there is . . . .  You never know when the moments will end.

May you be present in each moment,

Sandy