The best day of her life

One of the true pleasures in life is walking to school with my daughter Greta. She, 6, is at an age where her dad is still one of the pillars of her life; I have not ceased to be cool and I do not gather a rolling of eyes like dewdrops on early morning leaves.

She still wants to hold my hand when we walk.

I'm not sure there are many greater things in life than holding the small, soft hand of a child in your own and wonder at the beauty of life through the eyes of a child.

We left early one morning for school. Breakfast was hurriedly finished, lunch was made, little green backpack was packed full of notebooks and reading materials: Life started out that day the same as any other. After saying goodbye to her mother and sisters, Greta pulled the door closed behind her. Walking down our cement driveway Greta unconsciously reached for my hand. We walked that way in silence for a while, Greta in her own little world trying to avoid the cracks in the sidewalk for fear that her mothers back would be crushed, and I, contemplating what the day of work would bring. But these days I have been gradually trying to push myself to ask the girls more questions about life so that when the teenage years bear down on Christine and I like locomotives we are prepared to communicate with our children.

"How did you enjoy last night?" I asked Greta. The night before, Christine and I had been to a wedding reception and the girls had experience the joys of wonderful babysitting when they had two are three hours of undivided attention.

"It was good." She replied while finding a good stick to carry down the street.

"What did you do?"

"We read books and then I read books to them. Then we watched a movie. We watched Winn Dixie." Greta then proceeded to tell me the story of the dog and I soon found myself day-dreaming again. After she stopped talking, I snapped myself back to attention.

"So," I kiddingly queried, "was it the best day of your life?"

I did get a roll of the eyes for that one. "No, Daddy, it wasn't the best day of my life."

"So what is the best day of your life?"

Greta looked up at me with her brown eyes searching me. "Today," she said.

"Today? Why is today the best day of your life?"

Greta smiled. "Because I've got P.E. today at school."

Physical Education. She loves P.E. more than Winn Dixie; more than trips to Australia, Georgia or Rake, Iowa. She loves it more than a treasure hunt in the back yard. What a great thing to have the best day of your life be the one you are living right now.

Now I'm sure that if Greta, in her six year old way, were to really think about what has been the best day of her life, it probably would not be with regard to the activity curricula at her school. I've seen her laugh and jump and smile and giggle away the hours, but the beauty of a child's life is that every moment is new and experiential. I wish I could snag on to that for a while. I wish I could say that I already know that this is the best day of my life because I've got pre-marriage counseling to attend to, or no other days can compare to this because sermon prep lights up my eyes like Christmas bulbs. I wish I could do that, but maybe all that I need is an attitude adjustment.

On my desk is that very thing: my attitude adjustment holder. Inside this beige, metallic cup are the things that make life a bit happier. Such as: guitar picks, coffee grounds, a love note (from Christine in case I need to clarify) and a few odds and ends that turn my frown upside down. Perhaps this attitude adjuster will help me find some Greta-like days in the near future.

Jeanne Moreau writes (I have no idea who this is but I have a great book of quotes) "Age does not protect you from love but to some extent, love protects you from age."

As I continue to reflect on Greta's words and the Word itself, I am reminded that love makes our age pointless. Time truly ceases to matter when we love. We love God, we love our neighbor, we love our selves. The present is eternal.

So this week as you wind your way through life wondering what has been the best day of your life and what might be the best day to come I think it bears reminding that living in love makes every day the best day of your life.