Just an ordinary day.
Just trying to get by.
Just a boy,
Just an ordinary boy.
But he was looking to the sky
And he asked if I would come along
I started to realize
That everyday he finds
Just what he's looking for,
Like a shooting star he shines.
He said take my hand,
Live while you can
Don't you see your dreams lie right in the palm of your hand.
~ Vanessa Carlton, "Ordinary Day"
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There are days in which this journey is rough. Very rough. I would lying if I said it weren't difficult from time-to-time.
Yet, through it all, there are days in which I take his hand and he holds it back. There are days where I push him on his swing and he leans his head back in the breeze and opens his mouth in a display of peace and wonderment and awe. There are days in which I will inch close to him on the couch as he's lost in his iPad, and just when I think he and I do not occupy the same space, he will lean his head against me, showing me that he knows I'm there.
Each time I hear "Mommy", each time he smiles, each time I hear his laugh, I am in so grateful that - on the day he was born - I was offered the privilege of joining him on this journey.
All of these ordinary moments filling his extraordinary life.
As I walk side-by-side with my boy, I am aware that I am not the navigator. It is him. I am here to simply follow along and enjoy the journey. If I keep my eyes and ears open, I will learn from him. If I open my heart, I will find my strength.
And if I sit back and let him be the wonderful person he is, I will have the honor of watching him change the world with few words, but with tremendous love, courage, and dignity.
May we all live such fulfilling lives.