Sometimes There's Grace in Even the Mundane Moments
It’s two days before the end of the year and Costco’s Optical section is mobbed. Like everyone else, I’m there to try to take advantage of my Vision plan coverage and Flex spending dollars before I lose them at the end of the year. I take a number and try to find a spot to wait while avoiding the onslaught of carts, the bored kids racing and playing between them, and the crowds trying to browse the racks of eyeglasses.
In the midst of all of this chaos, my attention is drawn to a middle-aged woman and her elderly mother who, like me, are trying to find a calm corner to wait. The woman’s mother is petite and frail, but she exudes an air of dignity and grace. She's dressed impeccably in a simple, but elegant outfit, exactly the kind of outfit my own mother used to wear. Ignored by everyone around them, I watch as the woman tenderly adjusts her mother’s jacket collar and places herself between her and the kids in an attempt to create a buffer from their exuberant play.
It’s such a small moment but my attention is drawn to them like one of those movie moments where we, the audience, focus in on the protagonist among a crowd of people, and all the other motion around them blurs into the background. I’m drawn to them because this exchange feels so familiar to me. As I watch, I’m reminded of my own mother and I’m transported back in time to the many similar small moments that happened between us.
It’s rare to bring awareness to these moments when you’re living them; so much else is going on and they’re fleeting and brief. Let's face it; a trip to a jam-packed Costco is no one's idea of a memorable experience. I never thought, as they were happening, that I'd later look back on the everyday moments together as something I would treasure. I never thought at the time that our trips together to Trader Joe's, our conversations in the car as we ran errands, were special and fleeting.
But now, as I watched the tender gesture transpire between these two women, their rapport and connection, I thought, how lucky that woman is to have that moment with her mother, this time to spend together even if it's just time spent taking care of the mundane chores and tasks of everyday life. What I wouldn’t give to have the chance to be able to have that time again with my own mother, the chance to have her by my side, the chance to smooth her collar and wait together for our turn to select new glasses.
Wistful, perhaps but not a sad moment because it prompted me to recognize how the everyday experiences we did have together were such a gift, and that maybe bringing a similar awareness to the seemingly mundane moments I have now with others I love can help me to be more present and grateful.