SPARKLY

“Mommy it’s hot!”
“Mommy I’m thirsty!”
“Mommy my feet hurt!”
“MommyMommyMommyMommy…”

Walking 3 blocks to my new job as the new base piano teacher hadn’t seemed as daunting as it was now turning out to be.  Walking 3 blocks with two 3-year-olds and one 5-year-old was quite a different story. The closer we got, the slower they walked.  The slower they walked, the longer the sidewalk stretched. 

Cement surrounded us from all around; cement sidewalks, cement houses, even cement slabs that served as fences.   The only relief from the relentless cement closing in on us from all sides was the black pavement between it all, radiating heat up like a furnace.  Military bases are not well known for their aesthetics…

Showing up late on my first day of work was definitely not going to look good.   My plans of working a few months to save up for a downpayment on a car for the winter was definitely not looking good either.

I sat down.  I just stopped, let go of the 3-way hand hold we had been struggling to maintain, and sat on the curb.  My three children looked at me, bemused, wondering what I was going to do next.  I was actually wondering the same thing.  Was I going to cry?  Was I going to yell?  Was I going to just sit there staring out at nothing and give up? 

None of the above!

“I see sparkles!” I declared. 

The children looked around.

“Look!” I exclaimed.  “In the road!  There are sparkles!” 

Puzzled expressions crossed their faces. 

“Screw up your eyes, like this…move your head around a bit and….”

“I see them!!!! I see sparkles too!” They each exclaimed, in their own ways. 

The rest of the trip passed all too soon in discovery of all the different places sparkles had been hiding.  In the asphalt, on the sidewalk, in the sand and pebbles accumulated next to the curbs.  Even the clouds in the cloudless sky contained sparkles for eyes that could scrunch up enough just so…

Some days are grey. Some days are hot. Some days are long.  Some days are just plain plain.  But no matter how plain the days become, there are always sparkles to be found if you just scrunch your eyes up just so…

By cindy
12/24/2021