A MOMENT IN THE SPOTLIGHT
By Thomas Thurman
Imagine if you will:
I am sitting in a recliner, a pillow by my side and slippers on my feet. The only shield from the morning chill is an old quilt made by my grandmother lying across my lap. I can hear the crackle of the fire growing to life in its small shelter of the fireplace. The smell of hemlock and cedar slowly over take the clean crisp night air that I arose to just moments ago. As the light starts to dance around from the flicker of the flame I can see the dog curled up on her favorite blanket (you know the one that use to be mine). I stretch out and rub my eyes, as they take their own sweet time to readjust, just in time to observe what can only be the start of a most beautiful sunrise. I get up and quickly open the window then slip back under the protection of my quilt. The sky starts to turn many different shades of orange and red as it slowly rises from behind the trees.
With the window open I can hear the babble of the creek which instantly reminds me of how my son loves to jump in the water whenever the sees it. It does not matter where he is or what is wearing. If there is water he MUST jump in. I smile and my heart warms and almost as if cued I notice that the birds are waking in song to acknowledge the presence the sun. And the leaves are changing from the absence of color to green and flowers are opening with little droplets of dew on them adding sparkle as well as color.
My attention is quickly turned to my dog as she picks her head up and looks straight through me. Before I can turn around, I hear the pitter patter of some familiar little feet across the wood floor. They go from one side of the room to the other. After a minute in the bathroom, I hear the pitter patter of feet coming up to me. With out a word, he walks up to me and looks up, smiles then crawls up and under the quilt. His cold feet against my body remind me how cold it still is. With in seconds after he covered his head in the quilt he was snoring. I noticed the dog turned over sticking all four paws up in the air and fell back to sleep herself. The sun has raised enough to act like a spotlight warming my body. As quiet as an angel, my wife appears by my side with a soft and gentle hand on my shoulder and a kiss on my head.
People strive to find their moment in the spotlight, a time when they are on top of the world. You know, a time when they are the most important person. Well, I found that moment, not where or when I thought I would. This moment in the spotlight is like being in heaven.
