I walked through the Nutley, NJ Farmer’s Market on this beautiful sunny summer day. A family of four was selecting fresh fruits and vegetables as the bag they brought flew away. The dad went after and caught the bag. His little girl, squealed, “Daddy, you did it!” He smiled and said, “Yes, I did.”
As simple and fleeting as it was, for that moment his little girl saw him as a hero, and he was smart enough to recognize and relish it. How many of these moments happen in a given day that we may not stop to enjoy?
It is best said by this exerpt from the essay Knowing What’s Nice by Kurt Vonnegut.
And now I want to tell you about my late Uncle Alex…His principal complaint about other human beings was that they so seldom noticed it when they were happy. So when we were drinking lemonade under an apple tree in the summer, and talked lazily about this and that, almost buzzing like honeybees, Uncle Alex would suddenly interrupt the agreeable blather to exclaim, “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”
Enjoy the next to last weekend of summer, a glass of lemonade, and your special moments!
Tina Nocera, Founder
Tina,
What a wonderful story! Learning to appreciate the simple pleasures in our daily days, rather than looking to the future or reliving the past, seems to be the rarest of qualities. When I find myself not appreciating what should be a special moment with my little girl, I try to remember that right now will soon be viewed the “good old days”.
Best,
Derick