… Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture, And save it from the funny tricks of time, Slipping through my fingers … (@abba / Mama Mia)
I recently watched an amazing Mama Mia live performance in which my 16-year old niece played Donna, one of the main leads. She was unbelievable! This young, talented woman, where did she come from all of a sudden? Was I not just watching her toddle across the kitchen? And now she’s boldly and confidently walking across the stage, capturing the hearts of every person in the theatre. And, to make my heart burst open even wider, at the same time my eldest niece had just accepted a ring of engagement from her dear beau. What?! Where has the time gone?
If you haven't seen Mama Mia (or aren't ABBA fans) there is a song in the performance called Slipping Through My Fingers, sung by Donna while her daughter is getting dressed for her wedding. Wow, emotion overload. Tears were streaming down my face… tears for the passing of precious time, and of pride as I watched them grow and struggle and succeed.
You may be facing new life that is about to transcend upon you, full of hope and wonder. Or your season right now may be the snuggly, fussy, new smiley, loads of diapers season that is seemingly never ending. These babies of ours grow to be adults – mind boggling such that it is. Time can slip through our fingers, as quickly as we can snap them. Cliché yes, but true. The pride overwhelmingly takes your breath away… from their first amazing breaths as they are placed on your chest to their first poop in the toilet, and then to their first steps into the world of adulthood that ultimately comes too soon.
These moments are taken for granted, like a flaw in human nature where we can’t see the future to know that the little insignificant moments are the ones we want back the most. Take it all in. Breathe it. Feel it. Every once in a while freeze the picture before it slips through your fingers.
