day 12. The Best Juice Ever.

my son, dirty disheveled and beautiful, smelling like wet puppy in the August humidity, bounds in happily out of breath.

try this, mom. he says and hands me a plastic juicy-juice bottle with dark goo stuck to the side and purply juice inside of it. his hands are dirty and stained, like his little boy mouth--always something on it, always. i look at him and ask what it is and before i can finish, he pushes the bottle toward me and says, try it!

he smiles at me as i lift the bottle, goo-side out, to my lips and blackberry slides across my tongue. isn't it good, mom? he asks as he leans his dark head way in to see the juice actually hit my lips.

yes, son. i answer, smiling at him, exchanging trust between our eyes, and love from mother to son, and a million other things in one flash of a second.

he tells me that he squished blackberries and added water and made his own juice. The Best Juice Ever. he is so proud as he bops back outside to his sister and his friends.

it really IS the small things...my heart is full & i am grateful.