Lost in a moment

I had a memory come back to me this week and I felt like I wanted to write it down. It makes me happy to recall and I think there's a lesson in it, too. In 2019, almost all of my family got the rare opportunity to visit Hawaii together. And it was awesome. I understood right away why people take their honeymoon there (very romantic) and why people save their entire lives to make the trip (breathtaking in its beauty). So it was set against the backdrop of the inspiration of Hawaii that this happened.

I got the chance to spend some time with my oldest nephew, Nate. This was a really special occasion because it almost never happens. I'm not loathe to say that my family celebrates often and we make every effort to get together as frequently as possible. We're together as much as crazy schedules allow but it's really quite rare to get a moment one-on-one with this splendid young man. One of the days we vacationed, we were fortunate enough to go exploring the iconic North Shore of Oahu together.

We spotted a ukulele shop and Nate wanted to go in to see what they had on offer. My niece, his sister, wasn't able to come with us because she'd recently had a baby so he thought to pick an instrument up for her, which he did. But he was looking at a wall of instruments, plucked one down from the shelf and began to play. Then he began to sing. It was the most heartwarming thing to bear witness to and I've never forgotten how tender my heart felt watching my blue-eyed love play that ukulele and sing to himself. I got to watch him get lost in a moment and today, while I write this, I feel lost in a moment myself. It was precious.

I couldn't recall which songs Nate played that day or what he sang particularly, but I will never forget how my heart swelled with love and with gratitude for that opportunity and for being able to see right into the heart of someone whom I love very much.

We learned on that trip that the word ALOHA means, "my heart sees your heart." I couldn't have had a more perfect illustration to feel the "aloha spirit." These are the things I want to carry most closely with me as year passes into year.

Go get lost in a moment as the winter turns into spring. Look for aloha spirit around you and while you're at it, throw some around. Look into the hearts of the people you love and let them see your heart, too. Perhaps, with a little bit of good fortune, you'll create a memory that will carry you through, too.