There she was in the shopping cart.
A little girl with uneven pigtails on either side of her head.
She was watching her mom and talking to something that was not there.
I couldn’t quite guess her age because she had a pacifier in her mouth.

I was certain that she was holding had a pacifier much like another child has a blanket.
The fact that she could talk with the pacifier in her mouth astounded me.
As I passed her she smiled at me.
As she smiled at me, the pacifier fell out of her mouth.

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In a few days my youngest daughter will be taking her final exams.
When she finishes her exams she will be halfway done college.
It is not possible that the little girl I held in my arms twenty years ago is so grown up.
I’ve had the privilege of watching her grow all these years.

She has been an RA this year for a floor of about forty freshman girls.
She has done an amazing job.
On Thursday nights there is an open invitation for the girls to come to her room to have tea.
Like mother, like daughter since having tea together is a precious time for us.

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There is a place, a holy place that we tend to overlook.
Holy places are often quite ordinary.
Holy places are usually found among the common.
Something is holy simply because God sets it apart.

It was during my own prayer time that I thought about this holy place.
It was as I was praying for each of my children that it came to mind.
It was a place where I sat each night.
It was a place I never really considered holy until it was no longer a part of my daily routine.

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I ran into the ladies room before I continued my shopping.
I had been out for most of the afternoon.
I still had quite a few errands to run before I headed home.
Other women must have had the same idea.

Every stall was occupied except one that was way down at the end.
There is a certain bathroom etiquette.
You may smile at someone as you are both standing at the sink.
You usually do not converse with them.

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I watched her as she went about the task at hand.
Her youngest child had just finished having lunch while sitting in a portable high chair.
It was the kind of high chair that can attach to any table.
She didn’t think anyone else noticed.

I watched her, amazed at her precision.
She had lifted her little girl out of the high chair minutes before.
Her little daughter was already toddling away.
This young mom meticulously went to work.

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One of my daughter’s friends is a young mom.
She and her husband love being the parents of an adorable little girl.
This precious little one looks exactly like her Daddy.
This young couple are enjoying the journey of parenthood.

I got a message from this sweet mom.
We were planning to get together and do some antiquing and flea market shopping.
However distance and coordinating schedules will put that afternoon off for a bit longer.
She proceeded to tell me a story.

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It was my dental cleaning and checkup.
Every six months, my appointment is scheduled.
There is something about that clean, just-out-of-the-dentist feeling.
I used to lovingly tease my children when they went to the dentist.

Your teeth are so shiny, I need sunglasses, I would say to the littlest one.
They would giggle and believe that their clean teeth shined like the sun.
I knew that no one would tell me that they needed sunglasses when I got out of the chair.
I knew that the just-out-of-the-dentist clean would end after I had lunch.

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I was behind her in line.
I visit this particular thrift store in my place of rejuvenation.
I can always find old tins, odd dishes, and Revere Ware pots to add to my mother’s set.
I counted heads as I stood behind her.

Five children standing and one in a coach were shopping with her.
The woman was with her own mother, so three generations were present.
I ran into them upstairs among the toys and the books.
Her younger children were having fun looking through the things on the shelf.

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We have all passed one on the street.
They are usually on a well-traveled corner.
The handmade sign is taped to the front end of the makeshift table.
The young entrepreneurs are filled with enthusiasm.

It doesn’t matter that they had absolutely no hand in the product itself.
Their ability to sell the product is determined by their cuteness alone.
The way they flag down cars as they drive by.
The way the passer-by seems to catch their joy.

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The movie came out in 2010.
We had seen the two movies that were made before this one.
We knew that Pixar never disappointed us before.
We knew that this time would be no different.

The original movie came out in 1995.
That was the same year I had my fifth child.
My younger son was almost four when we saw the movie.
In January, 1996, for his fourth birthday, he got toys from the movie.

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