Perfect Moment

Faint traces of bleach fill our quad. We've been required to do routine wipe-downs due to a wave of Rotavirus sweeping through the Campus. Everywhere we turn, there have been posted signs coercing our hands to hot water, sudsy soap and friction to kill lingering germs. The worst is over for now.

And alas! It is Saturday! Michael took the troops adventuring down a road they had not yet explored. They ate Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes, followed by a trip to the playground, where they were squealing in the rain, trying to swing up into the clouds. Swinging was especially fun when the rain poured in torrents we don't see in California. Soon, coming down so hard, it felt like hail, making it nearly impossible to see ahead. Racing toward shelter at the quad, I thought the wind was threatening to drag Chloe and I away and we began laughing as hard as the rain was falling. Warm rain beating the asphalt paving, feeding wet grass...making us laugh... It was perfect. And then everything stopped. The rain, the wind, the laughter. The perfect moment was gone.

While Julia was gathering everyone's wet clothes in a heap, Abigail came into my room and began sobbing, "My heart was so full of so much love for you while we were running in the rain, it was so sweet!" She sobbed, "I loved being at the playground in the rain with you." She sobbed. She too thought it was a perfect moment.