LITTLE THINGS

My husband Steven and our son Alex and I were all sitting at the dining room table eating dinner when Steven stopped in mid-sentence and pointed past me.

“There’s a balloon floating in the woods.” he said.

Both Alex and I turned around to see what he was talking about.

“What balloon?” I asked.

Steven was already out of his chair and headed for the kitchen door.

“Where are you going?”

The blue balloon had lost some of its helium and was drifting out of our woods and headed for our back porch.

Alex and I watched as Steven reached out and caught the ribbon that was attached to it and brought it back in the house and handed it to me.

“Here you go.”

I took the balloon from his outstretched hand. “Um…thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He sat back down and continued his story from where he’d left off.

I sat there holding the balloon with one hand and eating with the other.

“You know you don’t have to keep holding it.” Steven smiled. “You can let it go and it will just float around the room.”

I let it go and I watched as it slowly drifted toward the kitchen.

Once dinner was over and we were all clearing our plates, I walked in the kitchen where the balloon was hovering near the sink. I gently swatted it out of the way and started rinsing the plates before stacking them in the dishwasher.

The balloon had made its way over to the refrigerator and once again I tapped it away to put the leftovers in.

Once the kitchen was cleaned I reached over and grabbed the ribbon attached to the balloon. “Okay, you’re coming with me.” I told it as I went into the living room.

Alex was sitting on the couch and when he looked up and saw me there holding the balloon he began to laugh.

“Taking your balloon for a walk?” he asked as he moved over on the couch to make a space for me to sit.

“I’m just bringing it in here so I can watch it float around the living room while I’m watching my shows tonight.” I let go of the ribbon and watched it drift over the coffee table.

“You really seem to like that balloon.”

“I like what it means.” I smiled. “Your Dad saw it outside and thought I’d like it and went out and got it for me.” I looked over at Alex. “It reminds me of all the times you and your brother would pick a dandelion for me and run into the house all excited to give it to me.”

Alex laughed again. “Dandelions and balloons. Good to know!”

“Hey,” I nudged his arm. “It’s the little things that make me happy.”