exhaust the little moment

This little moment … quickly captured by my daughter’s dad after her 8th grade promotion ceremony, he had just figured out how to use my new camera.

I remember she was apprehensive about going to the dance afterwards, but her dad said something wise that buoyed her confidence—the way he always did—and off she went, waving brightly to us like the yellow flowers on her new dress.

Had I known at the time that he would not live to see her graduate from high school or university, I know I would have embraced this moment more. I also know I sometimes forget to make the time for all the little moments. I shouldn’t.

Exhaust the little moment. Soon it dies.
And be it gash or gold it will not come
Again in this identical disguise ~Gwendolyn Brooks