Thoughts on Motherhood : The Best Times

I want to remember a moment in time. The evening air was sticky but a slight coolness seemed to brush my skin as if fall's arrival was only days away. We had all gathered to cheer Griffin in his soccer game. My mom and dad sat in blue fold out chairs and my mother-in-law (who had made a special trip to town to watch the game) sat next to them on the sidelines. We all cheered and made small talk as the game started.

Roger walked up moments after kickoff, he had just braved a long commute home from work but showed no signs of being exasperated from having to fight traffic to get to the game. We all hugged and said our hellos.

Koen ran in circles behind us, picking up patches of grass and tossing them on his head. His laughter spilled over the soccer field until he best friend, Alex arrived to play with him.

Her older brother was playing a game one field over but she couldn't contain herself from running to Koen when she saw him. Trailing behind her was Alex's Grammy (who happens to be my dear friend's mother-in-law). Grammy is kind of like family to us too, we see her so often and she stood with the kiddos while they ran in circles together and tossed grass in the air.

Griffin ran up and down the field and we cheered his every move. When he scored we all shouted and celebrated. When he missed, we all encouraged him from the sidelines. He had his own little cheer squad full of grandparents, parents, and crazy three-year olds.

A sense of love washed over me as I watched the game. I looked over at our family, all lined up and happy to be together to support Griffin and I felt so blessed to have such a wonderful family. I looked over to Koen to see him playing with his little buddy and felt blessed to have such wonderful friends that felt like family. A sense of home settled in my heart.

Griffin pulled me out of my reverie when he snatched the ball and ran it across the field, passing kids left and right who tried to stop him. He ran that ball all the way down the field and as he passed by us, we all stood on our feet, shouting "Go Griffin!" in unison. He kicked the ball into the goal and everyone celebrated. He looked so proud as a team member gave him a high five in celebration. It was such an exciting moment.

After the game, as we all walked through the parking lot to our cars holding hands with the boys, my mother-in-law turned to me and said "These are the best times. You'll look back on all this and nights like tonight will be remembered as the best."

I knew that she was right. With my family all around and me, the setting sun enveloped us and I lifted up a prayer of gratitude for the simple and lovely moments in motherhood. These really are the best times.