Creating Moments

Have you ever attended a celebration where nothing special was said?

The invitations were sent, the food was prepared, the guests arrived, the party was in full swing and you wondered when the guest of honour was going to be acknowledged but sadly, it never happened.

It’s so easy to miss the moment and it happens all to often. But it’s equally easy to acknowledge it!

That’s exactly what happened recently when a young couple was hosting their first child’s first birthday.

It was a lively party with lots of family and friends. The food was delicious the conversation rich but when I noticed the first guests putting their coats on to leave I had a sinking feeling that an opportunity was about to be missed.

I decided to intervene!

I went to the young father and said, “have you considered calling everyone together for a special moment?” He said yes, in fact that was what he had planned to do but it just never felt like the time was right.

I suggested that we make the time right, right now and fortunately he agreed!

We gathered everyone into the living room and as the young man began to talk the guests grew quiet with anticipation.

He kept it short. First he thanked everyone for coming and shared a few antidotes about his first year as a parent. We laughed. He talked about his admiration for his wife and told her what a wonderful mother she had become. We sighed. He shared his joy at being a father to his beautiful daughter. We got teary.

Ahhh…we shared such sweetness.

I encourage you to stop everything and take the time to create life’s meaningful moments.