Captured moments

Our monthly “Out of the Box Book Club” meeting was this week. As usual, we had a rollicking good time with great food and fellowship. We never know what the host of the month will cook up both literally and culinar-ily (is that a word?), but anyway it’s always a treat. And the fact that it’s mostly church friends in no way limits the gloves off approach to candidly (kindly) sharing our thoughts and feelings about each month’s book choice. I picked one once they all HATED.

This last one was pretty sweet though. We had read Fannie Flagg’s “Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven,” and it would be hard not to feel enriched and uplifted by that story. Someone had asked me last Sunday if I was enjoying the book, and I’m like, it’s about HEAVEN, you KNOW I am. It really is a great read and, if you don’t have it, a worthy addition to your bedside table.

I often go home after any of our meetings still thinking about the evening and pondering some of the questions. Charles’s name came up this time which is extra sweet, but also one of the discussion questions really stayed in my head – “if you could relive a moment in time, what would it be?” You just instinctively know it would be hard to pick, but I immediately felt a smile as my mind went back to this picture from when the kids were little. I rooted around until I found it.

Since, they were adopted at older ages, we probably hadn’t even had them that long. Halloween is obviously getting close, and Charles has them on the kitchen floor. He’s practicing butcher knife safety I’m sure (right, Charles, right??), and they are all digging down into that pumpkin to clean its little insides out.

The photo I took says it all. While Charles helps them turn a pumpkin into a jack-o- lantern, our older daughter is going to maintain just a tad of pristine distance so that her little velvet romper stays clean. She wants to participate but maybe she can do it all with only one hand. The younger one, on the other hand, is practically wearing that bowl and has already unzipped her little sweater because you know, if you wind up wearing those pumpkins guts too, they might as well be on your belly.

I doubt I get to actually relive any scene any time soon as a character in our book did. But, thanks to friends and Fannie Flagg, I’m reminded of this one - and that’s close enough today.