Over Christmas I was chasing my little niece around my brother’s house pretending to be the kissy monster. She was bouncing around giggling with uncontainable laughter, evading me but wanting me to chase her. But in mid-run she turned around to look at me, bounced off of an ottoman, lost her balance, and fell towards the brick fireplace.
Her forehead barely missed the brick and bonked on the hardwood floor. She cried and I held her. I gave her to her mom and dad and watched them love her. Little tears and deep love wrapping around all three of them because of this little one.
Our world stops when she gets hurt.
I’m guessing she sees her life as a series of happy moments and scary moments and moments of just needing her mom and dad. And I bet she feels pretty small at times like when she’s all bundled up in her car seat watching the world go by.
And I don’t think she can really see things from our perspective
I just look at her playing and think to myself, I’ve forgotten how incredibly valuable humans are, even before they can give anything back to the world. I just feel it and know it when I look at her. And I don’t think there’s really a way for her to understand this from her perspective.
And I think about how basically I do the same things as her. I run around doing things I think are fun. I get hurt from time to time and I look around for someone to love me. I watch this big world roar around me.
And I probably have no idea how incredibly precious and priceless the one looking down at me thinks I am.
How precious he thinks we are.
Raw Spoon, 12-27-15
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