The Little Things in Life

Me and my mom could turn a small outing into a memorable time together

I have several books of quotes, a must have for any writer’s office, and several mornings a week, I open it just to see if I can find a new and inspirational one.

I think the one I found yesterday is appropriate for the Living Large Blog.

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” -Robert Brault

Isn’t that so true? How many times do we dismiss the little things in our life, not thinking they will matter much in the end, when in reality, it may be something that will stick with us for the rest of our lives?

I’m reminded of one of the many times my mother and I were driving home from an ordinary trip to the grocery store. It was a beautiful spring day and the car in front of us had a message waxed onto its’ back window: “Seniors, we’re outta here!”

Mom got the most puzzled look on her face and said, “What does that mean, all of the seniors are outta here, where are we going?”

She thought of seniors in the sense of our more mature population, while the driver was declaring their excitement over graduating.

We laughed so hard I almost had to pull over – and it became a running joke with us for years afterward.

Of course, after my mother died, I’ve thought of that from time to time and it always makes me smile. It was one of those little things, on a routine day.

Sure, it is the big events in our lives –graduations, our wedding, the arrival of our children, and other big events that we automatically remember and grab the camera and video camera for, but it is these simple, little ordinary things we sometimes remember most, like a an unremarkable trip to the grocery store. .

Another small thing I remember was catching one of my cousins slipping my brother some money at a family get together.

My brother had issues and was always down and out.

My cousin, who was a most loving and generous person, may not have ever remembered that, but it was a scene that I’ve remember now for 15 years.

Recently, on Facebook, a social networking site, there was a post going around asking our social media friends to post something they remembered about us. Of course, I’m sure there were some unpleasant things we could have written, no relationship is real without the down times, but those aren’t the things we posted.

It was the little good things.

Friends and family wrote about the fun times, generous offers, gifts we gave.

I didn’t even remember most of the small things I had a part in that made a difference in their lives.

I wrote on one former classmate’s wall about the day after my dad died, when she brought over flowers and some homemade baked goods her mother made. We were friendly in high school, and were on the drill team together, but we weren’t hangout together friends, and I’ve never forgotten how pleasantly surprised I was to open the door and see her there.

I’ve tried to be more aware of the little things since we’ve moved here to The Little House, as I realize it is those memories of the little things, a meal shared with friends, a weekend hosting out of town family or friends, being there for a neighbor when they need a small tool or a gallon of gas that will save them a long drive into town, or maybe just how Dale and I lay in bed at night and laugh at some of the things we could be taking over-seriously.

Those little things is what we’ll remember for a lifetime, and we’ll be remember for.

What is the little thing in your life that might become one of the big things in your life, or someone else’s life today?

On Friday, I will draw the winners of the subscriptions to Mother Earth News and Country Living!