When did I give up on being a child?

As I stood in line alongside my family on our way to board the USS Midway in San Diego, CA on July 4th I thought more of my feet getting dirty from the dock and the blazing sun shining straight into my eyes than anything else. We were greeted by two veterans - advanced in their years- with the encouraging words of being “only a few steps away” from our destination. I laughed awkwardly and took those last few steps to the top deck of the ship that overlooked the San Diego bay just as the sun began to set. What a sight! Huge fighter planes lined the deck as hundreds of families, friends, war vets and celebrities dressed in red white and blue set up camp in the shadows of the great mast with the American flag rippling with the bay breeze.

Classic patriotic songs were sung in the background by two of the top 10 American Idol Finalists, poetry was read by young people encouraging one another to vote in the upcoming election all whilst my Omi gave me a classic ‘pep-talk’ for life. She is a strong woman who loves herself and has confidence I would kill for. If you’ve met her I’m sure you would have heard her call herself Colombo at least once or twice. ☺ We talked about my life, and these oh-so-wonderful early 20’s (note sarcasm) that I’m trudging through. She typically states that I need to let things go. She tells me. “Appreciate the small things and it makes appreciating the big picture so much easier.” So many people can say those things but after 74 years, she lives them.

I am sorry to confess that even after having several of these ‘talks’ I never let things go, and I seem to make little more effort to appreciate and pay attention to the little things. Except for tonight – I got a little reinforcement.

At 9:00pm sharp, across the dark and nearly moonless sky, burst fireworks from 5 different displays along the bay that in unison made quite the BOOM! I’ve seen so many shows in my life that they too easily become just something that you do. However, tonight, we were seated near a young family who seemed to be experiencing this all for the first time. What looked to be like their eldest son (maybe around age 5) was even more surprised with every explosion. I’ve never heard a ‘WOW’ like I did out of that young boy. We chuckled every time we heard “A RAZZLE DAZZLE” and a “WHOA did you see that one mom?!” Imagine the look on his face when he turned around only to see 3 more displays on the other side of the ship! It is always a joy to watch a child experience something new, but this was different for me.

This little boy was delighting in his life. Every firework was just as incredible, if not more, than the one before it. He must have seen the same one at least a handful of times. Still it seemed his lung capacity grew with an even louder “WHOA!” as the night continued…

Long story short, effortlessly this boy had perfected the very area in which I seem to be so flawed. This carefree kid was able to experience something so simple and so beautiful without questioning it. I had the same opportunity, and yet and I made little of it compared to him. I remember his mother saying to us “He just came out that way” and now I am hoping that he never looses that sense of grandeur about his life. What a treasure to have such a thing unharmed by insecurity and cynicism.

Maybe it is a poor comparison, but it was something so challenging to me that I felt like I should share it. This little boy gave me yet another reason to continue to seek growth and change in my own life. Grow to be more like a child I presume.