noodle

Sounds silly, doesn't it?
I worked at a camp years ago that after really stressful weeks, we'd decompress by talking about our "Magic Moments" with the kids (they were all chronically ill) that made us laugh or cry or stop and think.
I don't know about everyone else but my life has been really stressful lately.
And I had a magic moment on Tuesday... a few actually.


I got a call early in the morning that one of "my" kids had unexpectedly died. When I got there, her little, skinny, five year old sister asked to sit in my lap. She asked if we were going to take "Katie" to the doctor and I had to tell her that the doctors couldn't help and that Katie's heart wasn't beating any more and that her lungs weren't breathing any more. She asked if we were going to bury her and I said yes.
"At the cemetary?"
Yes
"And we can go visit?"
Yes, we can.
"And put flowers on her grave?"
Absolutely
"I'm going to leave flowers behind me when I walk away so I can find my way back all the time when we leave."
A little while later, out of the blue while we were waiting for the funeral home...
"Dad? Dad? Dad? DADDY?! Katie's up there playing, isn't she?"
And after her little sister was put into the van to leave, she crawled up and kissed her on the cheek and put flowers in her hair. She had her mother on the phone (from jail... hmmph) but looked up at all of us, holding the phone kinda hidden and said...

Um... do you think it would be okay, if... um... maybe Mommy got to kiss Katie goodbye, too? And held the phone up to her three year old sister's cold little face so Mommy could kiss her goodbye, too.
Dude, I seriously lost it. So sweet.
But so amazing.

I've had a million magic moments, but I'd love to hear more from other people.
Those moments that made you stop for a moment and appreciate something or someone, an instant that made you smile or laugh or cry, something that sticks with you and pops back up like a snapshot when you need it.

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Redjake

boy that's a tough act to follow! reading Atlas Shrugged was very magical for me. changed my entire perspective of life and fundamentally altered my political views.

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Off the record, on the q.t., and very hush-hush.

sapiens

Agreed. I don't know if I can follow that...

When my daughter was born, I had trouble speaking for a couple days. I was so overwhelmed. Nothing else mattered. I haven't experienced that level of focus since then.

I'll try to think of other examples.

noodle

They're not all that profound. I'll give you another.

My SO and I were having a nice dinner for his birthday and out of the blue, he reached across the table, held my hand and said,

I'm going to marry you after you graduate.

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ring

noodle wouldn't want us to feel like we cannot follow.

I was living in San Francisco, back in 1982 as a young almost homeless twenty year old.

I was waiting for a bus that wasn't due for forty minutes, it was late at night.

I saw a truly homeless elderly lady, curled up on the stairs of a flat,
right close to the bus stop.

I tentatively said hello to her.
She raised the large brim of her hat to spy me,
and she must of felt safe talking to me then, for she sat up and we talked and talked.

During our conversation, she mentioned something about it being her birthday.

I then experienced hairs standing up on my arm.
I asked her if it was really her birthday.

She rummaged through a multi-colored bag and showed me her ID.

That day was also my birthday.

We smiled at each other for a long time.

I removed an onyx ring from my left hand and presented it to her as a birthday present.

She received it graciously.

The bus pulled up moments later.

We held eye contact, for as long as possible.

Magic.

Craven Morehead

When my oldest son was a senior in high school he was on the Science Olympiad team. His team went to the national competition. He won the gold medal for the only event that was an individual event. It was truly a magical moment when they called out his high school's name as the winner of the gold. Then it hit me that the winner was him. I gathered myself up and rushed to get his picture as he was given the award.

My youngest son also had an equally magical senior year in sports. But those magical moments were realized over the course of time, the competition season. However, winning his last tennis match in the regular season to remain unbeaten for the season was an unbelievable moment. The match was one of the best I've seen. There would have been no shame in losing.

ranton

My latest magic moment happened after a year of planning and clandestine activities. I called 60 people inviting each to the magic moment, swearing them to secrecy and informing each one who knew, so no loose lips sank the ship. Ordered hand made invitations and sent them out 45 days before the magic moment. Hired a photographer, selected the location, acquired a wireless mic, verified a power hook up with the Parks Dept. and arranged a meal. Relatives where flown in, I had then shuttled to hide outs, confirmed plans to have others on the phone and scheduled a day full of activities. I was able to slip on the wireless mic at our last stop (a Greek bakery) when I "had to use the restroom".

When I walked on the beach at sunset with my wife, turned on the mic, dialed the phone and had 47 sets of eyes sneaking a peak out of the pavilion. We walked to a predetermined spot (set up with the photographer), I dropped to one knee and asked my wife to marry me again on our 25th wedding anniversary. Several magic moments occurred; when she heard her father's voice on the phone, she thought he was there because she never noticed the phone. She was a little distracted by all the eyeballs on us.

I asked for her father's permission to marry her and this time asked if it was OK with him "If I kept her for another 25 years". Another was when she said yes, part of my speech was to pull a shovel out of the sand and proclaim "I would bury myself if she said no". And the next one was to see her reaction when her sister surprised her when she walked onto the beach.

I am amazed to this day that I pulled it off with the only clue she knew was that I was planning a surprise that would cost a little bit of money. The ring, the dinner, invitations and the day of activities (museum, park and antique browsing) cost $2200. My kids knew but never even slipped up once during the year of planning. My wife knew something was up when we drove into the park and she noticed our daughter's car parked next to a friend's car.

mixedmedia

noodle, I really admire you. Your work must be incredibly difficult at times, but it is so meaningful. I am hoping that once I get through all this schooling and become an RN, I can be half as awesome as you are.

I have had magic moments over the course of my lifetime, but the most memorable ones are when my daughters express their love and respect out of the blue. It always takes me by surprise when it happens, because I tend to carry around a fair amount of guilt for dragging them around through some of the choices I have made. So it feels really good when they let me know that they love me and think I'm awesome. And they give me the most fantastic Christmas presents.

Last semester, during a full weekend of crash studying and homework, my youngest daughter made a sign on a large piece of paper decorated with colorful little whatnots that read 'Go, mommy, Go!!!' and periodically she would come into the room and cheer me on. That was pretty magical. The little wingnut.

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Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Strange Famous

Well, it may sound quite shallow compared to the starting post, but this was pretty special:


I wasnt alive in 1966 obviously

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

snowy

I had a magic moment yesterday when the kids in my practicum classroom yelled goodbye to me. They were all so enthusiastic and it was clear that they really would miss me. one boy yelled out his nickname for me. It was amazing to see 30 middle school students waving at me. I'd never known middle schoolers were capable of such feeling.

I was so incredibly touched by their farewell that I cried when I got to my car.

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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

ametc

I used to work for a convalescent home's dementia unit. What always struck me was how the patients' lives had really changed so dramatically. They used to be pilots, actresses, school teachers, professional wrestlers, dancers, and even "dangerous" political activists. And yet.. there they'd sit in their wheelchairs. Yelling and screaming and talking to people who weren't there. Alzheimer's is a crazy disease. Their behavior would remain the same for a while, but when their behavior was deteriorating, it did so very quickly. They could be yelling "Maria! Help!" one day.. and then the next they'd be lying in bed, mouth open, eyes fixed on something I couldn't see, almost in a catatonic state. They would remain like that until their behavior deteriorated even more.



One that struck me really hard was the death of a very lively, well aware man named John. He would always give me candy and talk with me about his life. He'd tell me about his fighting in Europe during WW2. Very sad stories. I enjoyed talking with him when I could.. and he was one of my favorite patients. But, then one day. He didn't eat. He stayed in bed.. for days. No food. No water. He lasted two weeks. During that time, I would sit by him and tell him about my life, and he'd smile and wriggle his fingers (trying to move it to hold my hand). I was telling him about something one day when he just looked up, mumbled something, then breathed out slowly. His eyes glistened, then went dull. He still had his candy in a basket at the foot of his bed. He was such a sweet man.

abaya

I had some very nice moments with one of my uncles last week in Iceland. His wife, a much-loved woman in our family (who was much better at connecting with all of us than he ever was), had passed away suddenly the week before, after being diagnosed with cancer 2 weeks before that. She was 51, they had 3 grown sons, and they had been together since they were teenagers. He was beside himself with grief. He had also been very close to my father, whom I had never known (died before I was born, also suddenly, when he was 31)... and up until this funeral happened, I had always been a bit resentful of my uncle because he never tried to be close to me, and could never talk to me about my father. I assumed he just didn't really like me much, who knew.

But when I showed up in Iceland, after flying for 2 days from Seattle to be by my family's side, this stoic, reserved uncle did a most extraordinary thing... he walked over to me (he never approaches people; he waits for them to come to him), thanked me very sincerely for coming, and hugged me hard. Another aunt, who had been standing behind us, said that the whole moment was very emotional... I felt him sniffle a bit (he does not cry), and I hugged him back, hard. It was a powerful moment after nearly 30 years of not really having a connection with this man who loved my father so much, and who had almost never said a word to me in my whole life. And I think it marks a little bit of a turning point in my relationship with him. I felt a big gap in my heart begin to close, a little bit.

It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, from Simone Weil:

"Men owe us what we imagine they will give us. We must forgive them this debt.... I also am other than what I imagine myself to be. To know this is forgiveness."

__________________
And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran

shesus

One magical moment I remember was a cold winter day. We were very low on money and were worried about what we were going to eat because we had no food left and about $5 for the next week.

We had to park on the top of the parking garage because all the other spots were full. I stepped out of the car and looked down and saw something green in the snow. I bent down and tugged on it and out came a frozen $5 bill. I was so shocked and shouted, "Look what I found!" Upon turning around, another patch of green caught my eye and I ran over to it. I pulled on it and saw I had a $20 bill. JJ and I started searching the top of the garage. We stuffed the money in our bag and went up to our apartment to lay it out to dry. All together we found just over a $100. The next day we found another $50 or so.

I don't believe in God, but if I did, I'd say that money fell from heaven. That was a magic moment for us. It's amazing how things work out.

__________________
Whatever did happen to your soul?
I heard you sold it

Choose Heaven for the weather and Hell for the company

Shell

I was just remembering when I took one of my students for a walk the day after her father's funeral. It was perfect weather. I took her to this wide open field of nothing but green grass and lots of clear blue sky for as far as we could see. We looked for 4-leaf clovers, picked some buttercups, talked, and walked. I told her to just feel the sun on her face, the wind through her hair, the smell of fresh air...and then something magical happened.

A large and beautiful butterfly landed on her shoulder, it's wings slowly fluttering like a ballet. It fluttered off and then landed on her other shoulder, then fluttered from there and landed on her sundress where she just stared at it in awe. It stayed for about 15 minutes encircling her. There were no other butterflies around. It ignored me completely. It was all about her.

I don't know if I believe in our spirits hanging around here on earth but I felt there was something very special going on there for her. Or maybe an angel or a message from God. And she felt it too. Like a loving closure...perhaps a message that she will always be special and always be loved.

It was a magical moment I'll always remember.

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..."Say what you think. Those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind" ~ Dr. Seuss

ring

Susan Boyle - on British 'Idol' (Britain's got Talent)

yes?