One Brief Moment

Yesterday, for one brief moment, time stood still. My big, lanky nine year old (He looks big and lanky to me no matter where he stands in his class pictures.) came and snuggled up to me on my bed. As we lay there, he let me stroke his hair and reminisce about how he has grown and my good memories of him as a baby. Sometimes, I miss my first baby terribly. We argue about homework, and how he chooses to use his time. I worry about the world out there, the one he is immersed in daily. To a mom, it is a minefield of influence and corruption bent on attacking his innocence and wearing down his self-esteem. I miss the days when his whole world was contained in his parents' arms. The worries are bigger and scarier and loom even larger for the future.
But... for a moment, I held him again, basked in his innocence, and the love he freely shared with me. Just for a moment, it was just the two of us in our own little, snug world.