Moments to never forget

The problem with a moment, is that it usually lasts exactly that long. And on top of that, they are very easy to miss. In my five decades on planet earth, I have been extremely fortunate with moments.

I saw my daughters take their first breath; held my grandfather’s hand as he took his last.

Moments that will live in my memory until I also become nothing more than a memory.

A first baby step is way more important than a giant leap for mankind, if that baby is yours.

Sticking a plaster on your grandchild’s chafed knee is more rewarding than donating a barrel of blood.

These are all moments to cherish, remember, and with today’s technology, record.

Unfortunately, I have also missed many moments, like millions of other fathers and mothers who have to trade their time for money.

The curse of the working class – being at work when a child or grandchild utters the word “daddy” for the first time, or sticks a piece of lemon in their mouth and contorts all their facial muscles to resemble an octopus in a jar.

Moments. There to experience, to record and to miss.

But moments are not all fleeting. We can and should and must make them last, especially the good ones.

Just the other evening I convinced the wife to lie on the lawn with me and stare up at the clouds, watching the universe create the most amazing patterns on a perfect blue canvass.

Every moment was magic as the different layers changed shape, direction, and colour.

As the moments passed, the canvass changed colour and the clouds turned into little sparkles.

One by one, the stars peaked back at us through the ever-darkening sky.

Some are shy, barely giving me a glimpse of their beauty, while others boldly shine their everlasting light on us, begging the question, who is looking at who.

What started off as a moment, turned into minutes, hours of pure happiness.

So, moments can also be prolonged, stretched out possibly as far, as wide, and as long at will take to reach the outskirts of the universe.

But even forever moments come to an end – killed because I had to rush inside and start the dishwasher so that it could go through the whole cycle before load shedding.