A Tender Mother-Child Moment Brings Tears to My Eyes

Not sure if you've noticed but my random happy/funny thoughts seem to be waning with the days of summer. The school stress left behind in the classroom in June started to creep back in as the days of August ticked away. The countdown back to school began on the first day of the boys' summer, August 15th, and the ticking of that clock -- which, sadly, only lasts 3 short weeks -- has become maddening. I don't want summer to end yet! I'M not ready! Heck, for the boys summer has barely JUST begun!!!! I'm bummed and, as such, I don't laugh as much as I want to, or should, these final lazy days of summer. I'm dwelling a bit too much on the inevitable return to the school grind... just like I did when I was a kid. Thankfully, I'm still able to find those pockets of joy and opportunities to laugh here and there! And let me tell you, this past Tuesday, I found one and belly-laughed all the way home from the Bronx Zoo.

Yes, I went to the Bronx Zoo AGAIN. I have one of those amazing 5-NYC-attractions Wildlife Conservation Society memberships. The way you make those worthwhile is by going to the zoos and aquariums... A LOT! So, there we were, back at THE BRONX ZOO -- which I highly recommend, if you haven't been -- looking at the gorillas. I love the gorillas. They're just amazingly human-like creatures and I enjoy watching them almost as much as I enjoy people-watching. As a matter of fact, I was mesmerized watching the people watch the gorillas.

So there we were, back at our gorilla family window where Mama Gorilla and her youngun' were relaxing in the afternoon sun. Little gorilla decided to move to a shady spot and, in doing so, happened past Mama gorilla's ledge. The young gorilla stopped right in front of her mama, they looked lovingly into each others' amber-brown eyes, gently kissed, then tenderly hugged each other, each softly patting the other's back -- a gesture my boys and I perform multiple times daily -- before the baby continued past to her final destination.

The 15-person crowd simultaneously crooned, "AWWWWWWWW". The moment was so tender, it moved many of the onlookers to act in kind (monkey see, monkey do?). Hugs were being shared all around. Even my sons -- despite, or maybe because of, their special needs -- recognized the loving touch and followed along. Michael, who was standing beside his friend, Caitlin, put his arm around her waist and leaned in for a hug that was gladly reciprocated. Brian, who was on my hip, wrapped his little arms tightly around my neck and kissed me gently. My friend, Tammy... Well, TAMMY WAS BAWLING. LOL! Her eyes were welling up with tears as fast as she could wipe them away. As I looked over at her, she wiped them again and said, "Mike (her husband) is totally going to make fun of me for this! I'm such a mush!" We both broke up laughing. As a matter of fact, I was laughing so hard that I was crying too!

Every time I think of the beautiful tender moment shared between mother and child...

I start laughing! STILL! Thanks Tammy. I soooo needed that!