I find myself a back seat passenger in my car.  For the last 10 years, since my husband passed away, I’ve been the driver.

I’ve gotten used driving now, out of necessity.  Before, George always drove.  I loved being the passenger.  I could look around, discuss interesting observations, knit, read, and enjoy the easy company of sitting next to my husband for six or seven hours.  

Today I’m a passenger in the back seat, driving home from a week spent in the North Carolina Mountains.  I’ve made this trip 100’s of times alone and could almost drive the route with my eyes closed.  Today, however, my brother in law is the driver and my sister has the front seat.  I hear their soft conversation, the small talk that passes between two people married 35 years.  She points out interesting rocks along the route down the mountain, and remarks about the price of gas in Tennessee.

I loved having random road-trip-inspired chit chats with my husband.  It makes me remember how important are the small things in a relationship. 

Why don’t we celebrate small conversations, unremarkable moments or everyday events?  They slip out of sight and evaporate into the air of forgotten times.   But these are the building blocks of our days.  Our time with each other needs the small size of small things.  The sharing of time with back and forth conversation is a gift we rarely notice.  It’s like having a hand to hold, or a cheek to kiss.  Until these things are missing, we don’t realize we have them. 

Don’t make the mistake of not paying attention to the small things in your life today.  Hug that spouse, laugh at the silly messes your baby makes, and take time to slow down.  No day can ever be repeated.  We can never get back the sights and sounds that go unnotice.  Take it from me, a backseat passenger, remembering the small things I will never have again.  I miss them.

~Janet