There seems to be certain days where everything that you are going through, or everything you are struggling with hits you all at once. Today was one of those days for me. For some reason, today was the day that I began to feel the demands and expectations that my side of our family and my wife's side of our family are too much. Today was the day that I feel like no one takes into consideration how my wife, my kids, or myself are affected by other's lack of thoughtfulness, or selfishness. Today was the day that the stress of caring for an ill parent, and the strain it is putting on my wife and I emotionally, physically, and financially, became overwhelming. Today was the day when it seemed loneliness crept in, and that the people in our lives who love us, love us with strings attached, or with expectations of what they can get. The times we are shunned-all hit me today. The times we are taken advantage of- all made me mad today. To top this all off, it was a horrible day at work. Heavy patient load, two patients had to be sent to the hospital, and it was just plain old, run all day busy. School starting, and the holidays right around the corner rounded it out quite nicely. To be blunt, it was a perfectly crappy day. But then something happened-something amazingly simple. Something ordinarily profound.
I left the back door to work, to head out to the parking lot. My wife was there waiting, and her, and all of the kids, as well as my aunt were all outside in the grass, enjoying the sun while they waited or me. Once my little girl saw me, she yelled "Daddy!!!!" She began running to me, arms out, as fast as her little body could run. At that moment, that very moment, the earth stopped spinning. The sky seemed more blue. The sun, more bright, warmer, more enveloping. The few seconds it took her to get to me, seemed like an eternity, and time stood still. That moment is burned into my mind like a picture is captured on a film. When she made it to me, I scooped her up, and she threw her arms around my neck and said "I yuv you!!!!!". At that very instant, the world was perfect. All was as it should be. That moment was a Divine appointment, a gift from God, planned from the beginning of time, all because He knew I would need it today. There is something about the unconditional love of a child that amazes me. There is a warmth, a connection, a heart to heart expression that runs so much deeper than a hug, that happens in moments like this. All of the frustration I was feeling, instantly gone. All of the loneliness and hurt that I was feeling from other people, were simply squeezed away. All of the expectations and demands that I was feeling from our families didn't matter all of the sudden. What mattered was me and my little girl. It's foolish of me to think that my little girl will always come running to me with open arms, saying I love you. Especially when she gets older, and has to be disciplined. When I make her change her clothes, I'm sure she won't want to hug it out. When I say no boys, I'm sure she won't feel like telling me "I yuv you!" And someday, I won't be the most important man in her life, and she will be running towards her husband with open arms, telling him she loves him. But you know what would be more foolish of me??? Not cherishing everyone of those amazingly normal, seemingly simple moments, where the hug of a child can make the world stop spinning.
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