A Few of My Favorite Things

Last night, my seven-year-old asked me a question that caught me a bit off guard. I am not unaccustomed to his questions. Frequently, he asks me things like, "Mom, what's your favorite movie?" or "Mom, what's your favorite color?" or "Mom, what's your favorite superhero?". This time he asked me, "Mom, what's your favorite thing about life?". I paused for a moment to contemplate my answer. Finally, I told him that I was not sure and would need time to think about that one.

Wow! What a question! So seemingly simple, and yet, so complicated. What is my favorite thing about life? I finally had to admit to myself the impossibility of naming just one thing. I began to compile a list of some of my favorite things about life. When completed, I was amazed at the length of the list and the ease in which I had compiled it. As the old song goes, "these are a few of my favorite things":

• Snuggling into a warm, toasty bed on a cold winter's night
• The gentle rippling of a brook
• The uproarious giggles of my children
• A warm breeze on a spring day
• Sunday-afternoon naps
• Long, quiet evening walks alone with my husband
• A cup of tea and good conversation
• Visiting Florida in the wintertime
• The faintly-sweet smell of my newborn baby's breath
• The drip, drip, drop of refreshing rain showers
• Watching It's A Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve
• Gathering all of my family into a cozy home just before a storm begins to rage outside
• Making my husband laugh
• Mackinac Island, Michigan in August
• Sitting outside with my grandpa on a hot day eating sweet, juicy watermelon on the rind and spitting out the seeds
• Watching my children sleep peacefully and gently kissing them goodnight
• Curling up by a crackling fire with a good book on a cold day
• Marching with the militia in Colonial Williamsburg
• On a scorching summer day, diving into a clear pool and gliding through the cool water
• The "ah-ha" moment when a simple word becomes a life-changing revelation
• My husband's first kiss and every kiss after that
• And finally, my favorite thing about life may just be the privilege of getting to live it.
  

How about you? What are some of your favorite things about life?