Several years ago, I knew a family readiness support assistant that had the following quote in her signature block:

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away."

At this point, it is difficult to see amazing moments. After all, my husband just left me with three kids, one of whom has special needs, to “hang out” with his buddies. Or at least that was the track that was playing in my head. Of course, that is a figment of my imagination. My husband is actually working very long hours under a lot of stress to help people that he doesn’t know and he is doing it very willingly. So as his wife, the very least I can do is to look for the moments that take my breath away! I want to share several of those moments that we have had recently.

Moment #1 Friday evening, I decided to take the kids out to dinner. We went early so as to set ourselves up for a successful meal since my 5-year-old son who has autism can encounter some difficulties coping in restaurants. Even though the restaurant was almost empty, the hostess chose to seat people on either side of us, which is usually “certain death” for our evening. As the pace of my 5-year-old’s echoing grew, along with his volume, we paid our check and made our way to the car. With everyone safely buckled, I turned on the car and “Don’t Stop Believin’” as sung by the cast of Glee was screaming through the radio. The kids began yelling to open the sunroof and the windows and turn it up! Before I knew what was happening, we were all singing the chorus as loud as we could, and let’s face it, you are singing it in your head right now, aren’t you? I almost hated for the song to end, but I play that moment in the movie of my mind when I get frustrated and tired.

Moment #2 Unfortunately, I had not properly planned for the weekend, so I found myself with three kids in Walmart on Saturday, with the threat of terrible weather hanging over our heads. When we got into the car to go I started preparing my 5-year-old for the visit to the store. We have a mantra, “We get what’s on the list and then we look at toys.” While it may seem strange to repeat that over and over on the way to a store, for the autistic 5-year-old, that is the best way to know exactly what is expected of him. We continue that mantra as we pick up each item on our list, “We get what is on our list and then we look at toys.” That is what we did. We picked up everything that was on our list and then we all walked over to the toy area. I let him and the other two kids push buttons, take their time and comb every aisle that they wanted to see. Then, when it was time to go, about 10 minutes later, he grabbed my hand and we calmly went through the checkout. It wasn’t until we reached the car that I realized what had just happened. The heavens had smiled on me, and we had a successful trip to Walmart. When everyone was safely buckled into the car I sat in awe of our moment!

Moment #3 I am training for a half marathon and for those of you who know me well - I don’t run. I run from the house to the car when it rains. I run, at a full scary sprint, when my son takes off in the wrong direction. I run to be the first in line at a Black Friday sale, but other than those three occasions, I don’t run. Well, a sweet friend talked me into training for the Princess Half Marathon in February 2013. I have been slowly working my way toward 30 minutes of continuous running, or three miles or maybe death. Today, I didn’t run 30 minutes and I didn’t run three miles, so what is the big deal? I ran for 24 minutes, walked really fast for 6 and I went 2.8 miles total. That is the longest and farthest that I have ever run, and, I didn’t die. As I walked home from the neighborhood center, I had a little more bounce in my step even though I was tired. All I kept thinking was, ‘I did that,’ and most importantly, ‘I did it for me!’ I hope that you will take a few moments out of your day, week or month to look for those “Don’t Stop Believin” moments. Journey was right! You have to hold on to that feeling! Play them in the movie of your mind when you feel the weight of the deployment, your kids, your in-laws, your out-laws or any aspect of your life take over. Stop for a moment and don’t stop believing that there are moments that can truly take your breath away.

Strength and Courage ... sby