The Moon Shines Brightly Tonight

The moon shines brightly tonight through my kitchen window. I turn off all of the lights so that I may view it in all its glory against the darkness of the night sky. I take my tea cup upstairs, open the patio doors so that I may hear the sounds of the darkness. The insects are a buzz and cars can be heard from far away.  My street is quiet, not a soul around.  This I call tranquility. This I call peace. 

I never used to appreciate this time of night until a very dear, long distance,friend of mine and I would chat way into the wee hours of the morning about life, design, animals, favorite places we have been.  All the while we were chatting, we would listen to music together.  Songs my friend would share with me that I would never find on my own.  These were precious nights. I would almost go so far as to call them sacred.  Sacred to me anyway.  He gave me the gift of appreciating and embracing the stillness of the night instead of fearing it as I often did.

As I contemplate life on this beautiful, summer evening, I look back at these last couple years of my life and feel a sense of gratitude for the tremendous growth I have experienced as a person and the people I have met along the way. They might have been in my life for a short time, and others are still in my life but all of them have enriched my life in some way.

I can remember a time as a young girl when I desired the approval of others and now as a woman, I find it doesn't matter so much what others think or feel about me.  My mother sent me a Valentines Day card in the mail this past February and I have it sitting on my kitchen window sill as a reminder of who I am.  The front of the card has a light pink border with scrolls and flowers through it. And in the middle of the card is a little girl in a pink ballet leotard and tights, with a pink sweater-like headband around her head.  Her right arm is in the air and her left down at her side as she attempts to balance by the bar.  The saying of the card goes like this:

                                                 In the blink of an eye,
                                                      the little girl
                                                      who did pirouettes
                                                      down the hall
                                                      is dancing her way through
                                                      her own
                                                                 Life.

                                               Your song has always been different
                                                  from those around you.
                                               Like you it is special and a unique thing
                                                  you alone can hear.
                                              I have loved watching you dance t
                                                              to it"

                                                  Loved you then
                                                   Love you now
                                                 Love you always.

                                                 Happy Valentines Day

                                                          Mom


As I sip my tea and listen to the night air, I honor that little girl still in me, dancing her way through Life, to my own song, the song that plays in my heart and is true to myself.  Thank you Mom.