Moments

The challenge this week is to write about a moment that identifies us. One that has stuck with us. whether its from this morning or from years ago.

I’ve spent a good three days thinking about that moment. I’ve started, erased, started again, and trashed many beginnings. I’ve even gotten ha;f way though a couple. The problem is picking a moment and putting it into words. Taking a snapshot of life and describing the feelings, the emotions, the intensity of that moment. So that every body understand is. And doing it in 60 words or less.

There are so many moments in my life it’s hard to pick just one. (And you guys already know about my most defining one. The one where I almost redecorated the inside of my dad’s truck and then told him what was going on.) So, I thought I would do an overview of a few moments that stand out in my mind.

March/April, 2000. My great grandmother had just passed away, and it was up to the family to go through her things and decide what to do with them. I was seeing parts of her I never knew about.

September, 2000. I walked into a hospital room and was greeted with “hey baby!”. This was the first time in 5 years or so the my great grandmother remembered me. She passed away three days later.

February, 2001. My great grandfather left this world to join the love of his life on the most fitting of days, Valentines Day. His best friend and companion, his fog Buster, laid next to him for hours until a friend came to visit and found him.

Med-end, 2005. I laid to rest, the last thing that connected me to my beloved great grandparents: their dog Buster.

Summer, 2009. I went to summer school and met a boy. That boy was already taken so he introduced me to his friend. We started dating.

September, 2009; New Years Eve. 2009; August, 2010. The times that boy left me. (Obviously April 2010 is in there, as that’s when I had my son.)

April, 2011. In a smoke filled hooka lounge, some people randomly sat across a table from us because there was nowhere else to sit. That is the night that I met my husband. He didn’t say much, as he is shy, but we realized we knew each other when we met again on a dating website.

These are just a few of the moments that stand out in my mind. Some are obvious;y happier than others. I should have learned a lesson from some of them. In their own way, each moment defines me. Each moment tells you a little something about me. They all say something different. Some mean more than others, some hurt more than others, and some are happier than others.

Everyone would handle each of these moments in a different way. Me? I choose to use them to make me stronger. When most people would be broken down, I use them to build me up. To remind me what I have been through and what I can handle. Especially on those days that try to break me.

Moments. They can change your life and do one of two things, make you or break you. It’s all up to you.

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