Life is made up of a series of moments. Some good…some not so good. My stories mostly center on the positive because I feel that what you look for in life increases in abundance. 
 
Last night, my son scored his first points in a varsity high school basketball game. Week after agonizing week of sitting in the stands, watching the starting five sink basket after basket, our handful of junior varsity freshman and sophomores faithfully cheering on the teammates they one day hope to emulate with a staunch presence on that shiny wooden court. 
 
Last night’s game held an unsightly lopsided score, so the coach graciously allowed his JV team some time on the court in the fourth quarter. My son, along with his teammates that understand varsity is not a right granted to many freshmen, took this opportunity in stride as the players anxiously entered the ‘big league’ court they only see during practice. 
 
Several of the boys made aggressive moves and noteworthy shots. Of course, my sole concentration lay on only one player. Number 15. My firstborn son. My ‘baby’ though he stands at least six inches taller than me and looks more like a college junior than my high school freshman. 
 
That boy started out timid, but then something internally shifted in his psyche and he shot, passed, stole, and drove his way to the target. He was not the high scorer of the game by any means. But there was one particular moment that he made a calculated gamble of a shot. He scored. My heart soared, but it was not due to the three digit shift on the scoreboard. It was due to the look of pure, unfiltered joy upon my son’s face. 
 
I was immediately drawn back in time to his first free-throw as a child, kindergarten or maybe first grade, if memory recalls. He stood on the line, took his time squaring up and took a beautiful shot that landed in the lowered goal for those adorable young dribblers. The dance of excitement that followed was even better than his first successful free throw. It only lasted a moment, but in my heart of hearts, the hindsight of a mother, it lives in infamy deep within my nostalgic soul.
 
There are tender moments I recall from childhood. The day my mother arrived after a week-long stay with my grandparents on their farm one summer. I knew it was Go Home Day, but I didn’t know when she would arrive. As I slept soundly in my comfy blue bedroom, home away from home, something triggered me to open my eyes one random summer morning. There, on the bed, dressed in a lovely new dress, with fresh lipstick and her hair perfectly styled, was my mother. 
 
She sat at the edge of my bed, lost in the moment of watching her little girl sleep, waiting with anticipation for me to open my eyes and joyfully bound into her arms. I had truly struggled with homesickness that year but stayed the course and relented to my grandparents’ endless spoilage and daily fun. However, it was that moment I awoke and saw my mother sitting on the edge of my bed that presently stands out more than anything. Though I wasn’t yet home, being in the presence of my soulmate, a very part of my DNA, my own dear mother, despite the locale, always felt (and continues to feel) like home. 
Another moment that stands out is when I was in high school. At a competitive track meet, I happened to arrive at a personal best in one of my events. My dad, also my personal life and athletic coach stood faithfully at the edge of the track, timing my laps for a fun and exciting rendition of ‘how can we improve’ which faithfully followed each performance. That day, however, when I walked off the track after my race, having heard my time – a record set, if only against myself, I saw the look on my father’s face. It was one of pure joy and delight. A look I melted into as I ran into his arms for a bear hug and words of affirmation that live in my spirit to this day. 
 
It was in that one single moment that all the hard work, discipline, and mental toughness (which was the absolute hardest part of athletics for me) came together. It was not in a medal received, a qualification for a larger and even more competitive meet to follow, or the pride of my track team coach. It was the look on my dad’s face. That same pure, unfiltered joy that I recognized on my own son’s face last night at the basketball game in which he played less than five minutes. 
 
While his time on the court may have been limited, it was in that solitary moment that I captured the joy on his face, that truly unleashed my emotions. The days of long practices. The late nights of shooting baskets in the driveway. The long car rides home, with silent tears, wondering why the hard work wasn’t paying off in play time on the court. 
 
Everything came together in one single moment which was reflected in the joy upon that young boy’s face. My heart was full knowing his heart would remember this moment for years to come. 
 
As I told him good-bye this morning for a fresh new day at school, I couldn’t help but notice that despite the soreness in his growing body and weariness from the weight of high school, there was still a slight halo of joy surrounding him. One moment of pure bliss can infiltrate a million moments of sadness, upset, disappointment, and heartache. I hope he carries that moment with him…. forever. I hope it becomes a distant memory like my own life moments have. 
 
Sure, there will be BIG moments. Seeing his future wife at the end of the aisle on his wedding day. Holding his first baby in his arms. Getting that much anticipated and prayed-for promotion. Accepting a set of new-to-him car keys, a first step to his much-desired road to freedom. 
 
The big moments will come. 
 
They will live in his heart forever. 
 
Yet. 
 
The small moments. The personal records. The unexpected shots to shine. The look on the face of a mom or dad in the stands. The glimpse of my son…..caught in a moment of absolute delight where nothing else on earth matters but his pure and innocent joy……those are the moments I hold onto tightly. Those are the moments that define a life. Those are the moments that truly make life worth living. And my goodness, how blessed I have been to experience so many of those precious moments that stand out, and to proudly share them with the world.