The Important Stuff

We left in a whirlwind my son and I. Anxiety filled me in the effort to get him to school because I needed to see to the pertinent tasks for the day. I put the car in reverse after a frenzied episode of getting us both out the door. In a spurt, I said, “I love you,” just in case I’d forget to tell him at the drop off.

He replied, “I don’t love you.”

My heart sunk. “That really hurts my feelings.”

Then he said, “I super-duper-wuper love you!”

“Aw, thank you sweetie.” This time my heart buoyed, bobbing back to a surface called joy.

He continued, “I love you more than trees, grass, the sky, the car, the street, the lights, mailboxes, houses, pets, bushes, flowers, dirt, plants. . . .”

His little voice kept going. Sometime during the ten-minute drive to school other thoughts began stealing my attention. The things I had to write and rewrite, research to wade through, people to contact, ministry assignments, vet visits, even household chores – it all shot through my mind.

It wasn’t until after I checked my son into his class that I realized he still prattled, “bricks, hallways, classroom, pens, paint, paper . . . more than all those things—and that’s how much I love you!”

I gaped at him, speechless. It dawned on me that while my thoughts ran wild on other responsibilities, I could hear him but hadn’t really listened. Where for the duration of those ten minutes he described everything he saw on the journey to school, and told me that he loved me more.

“Mommy, you’re squeezing me too tight!”

“Oh, sorry,” I released my arms that had been wrapped around him in a kind of mother-bear-hug.

He said, “Bye,” and after a quick little wave he ran to join his friends.

I had important things I wanted to accomplish that day and I did them. No big deal. However, the lingering effect of my boy’s expressiveness stunned me. It warmed my whole world, made the day shine with brilliance. I could’ve forgotten about everything else. In fact, the world could crash around me, but the thing I’d remember most is his precious heart and the matchless sweetness that bubbles from it. This kind of thing is vital to human experience. It’s what makes my life vibrant.


Incidentally, while relishing in “the important stuff,” Tessa signed a contract with Soul Mate Publishing for her inspirational fantasy romance novella, Wind’s Aria – a part of The Brother’s Keep series. She can soon add that to her publishing venue, along with her novel, The Unforgivable (Risen Fiction/April 2011). “It’s all good!”  www.TessaStockton.com