Tuesday, March 10, 2009

slow down, dad

Deanna had an eye appointment at Kaiser santa clara this morning at 9:30am. we didn’t want her to have to drive with her eyes dilated, so the plan was that jane and I would drop her off at the hospital, go play at valley fair, and then pick her up when she was done. we figured that we should leave at 8:30, just in case there was a lot of traffic.

so this morning, Deanna got up really early to get ready. then I got up early to get ready. the only one who didn’t get up early was jane. she normally is up at 7am on the dot, but because of the time change, she’s a little off. she didn’t get up until 8:10 or so. we figured that Deanna would just have to drive herself to her appointment. we didn’t think that we had enough time to get jane into the car; but at the last minute, we decided to go for it.

Deanna quickly got jane dressed and her hair brushed. I quickly packed a bag with cereal and a drink for her breakfast. we got on the road at 8:40. we battled through traffic: into the commuter lane and out- speed up, then slow down, all the way to santa clara. Deanna got to her appointment in plenty of time. after we dropped her off, jane and I went to a mcdonald’s drive through and got pancakes- then we rushed over to the mall- why we were rushing, I’m not sure. I think we were just going fast. when we got to the mall, the place was empty. we parked, I got jane out of the car, got my bag of cereal and my bag of pancakes, and started walking fast through the parking lot to the mall entrance. since I was carrying all of that stuff, I wasn’t carrying jane. she was walking next to me. she reached up and held my hand, and I could tell just by holding her hand, that my legs were going way faster than hers were. and it hit me all at once: I don’t need to go fast. in fact, I should probably go slow. here I was, at the mall with my daughter while everyone else was at work in a meeting. here I was holding hands with a precious little girl going to have some breakfast in a very quiet mall. why would I want to speed things up? this is a moment that I wanted to slow down and savor.

so we did slow down. jane was thrilled to be in the mall while it was so quiet. I took this picture with my phone during breakfast.
its jane eating pancakes and chex, and giving me her take on everything from lollipops, to pajamas, to her favorite things to spend her spare time on. after breakfast, jane and I went downstairs to play on the playground before it got overrun with large children. again, she was thrilled to have it all to herself. we discovered some cool circle-chairs at a yogurt place close to the playground.
once we decided to slow down and enjoy each other’s company, we had a great time. before we knew it, we got a text from Deanna that she was all done at the doctor’s office. jane and I went into rush-mode again, but this time, we were rescuing mom from the doctor’s office. we were on a mission.

sometime I rush, even though I’m not in a hurry. the best moments in life are the ones when you have the time to actually enjoy them. maybe we experience those moments all of the time, but we moving too fast to notice. I think I would enjoy myself much more if I slowed down when there is no reason to go fast. I bet you would too.
God is love.
-rev-rob

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