The Day that Never Ends

Today worked out like a 4-year-old's dream-perfect day.  I know because my son pretty much told me so.  We started the morning with our usual Saturday pancakes and maple syrup, and then off to (what could be better?) a birthday party -- complete with games and gifts and cake.  After this we came home to find two brand new glide bikes (small bikes with no pedals, it's supposed to help them learn to balance a bike) just delivered from Fed-Ex for he and his sister.  I assembled these and they spent a few hours outside pushing them around our cul-de-sac.
The big event for the afternoon was a parade - the (very) Bellingham Procession of the Species - in which people dress up as creatures of all stripes (real or imagined) and march through downtown together, drums and all.  My little boy got to bring his very favorite stuffed turtle to see the event, and he got so excited that he joined right in the parade.  He ran to and fro amongst varied animals and danced and tripped along merrily among the drummers.  What a delight - I've not seen him so excited among strangers.  We finished the day with dinner at a favorite local restaurant.
As I carried him back to the car, he was sad because the day was ending.  He told me several times that he didn't want this day to be over.  How do you explain this to a four-year-old?  So I held him close, made him put his cheek against mine, and we took a deep breath together.  I told him there was only one way to make the day last forever, and that was to look around and take it in and do his best to remember what it was like.  I said that no matter what we did or felt, the sun would go down tonight and come up again for a new day tomorrow, and that we couldn't hold on to things, only live them and try to keep them in our hearts.  He promised to do his best to remember his perfect day, and I told him that today would always be with him, even when he was older and had his own family.  I hope we both can.

Today is May Day, and tradition holds that you leave treats and flowers on your neighbor's doorstep.  My treat came in the mailbox instead.  I found out today that I have been awarded a substantial fellowship to help pay for seminary; I have been selected as a 2010 Fund for Theological Education Congregational Fellow. This came as the result of a quick and decisive community effort on my behalf to meet a tight deadline.  It is a competitive and nationwide pool of applicants, so I feel elated and grateful to have received this honor.  This journey is full of delights and surprises, and I hope I can keep them with me as I move ahead.