THE SIMPLE SOUNDS OF LIFE

The rain taps against my window panes, stirring memories of days long gone.

Steamy days on a front porch where a cacophony rings in my ears.

The squeak of an old metal glider. The slamming of the wooden screen door. The bickering of children playing card games as they complain of cheating. The sound of my mother's voice as she calls us to dinner. The rustle of my father's newspaper.

Simple pleasures come from the small moments in life, but we are so often looking towards the large moments that we fail to notice the smaller more pleasurable ones.

The sounds of a child's laughter, an early morning bird song, the whisper of the wind through the trees, the sizzle of chicken frying in an iron skillet.

When I look back I remember big events like vacations, graduations, and giving birth to my children, but what I remember most from these events are the simple sounds of laughter on the beach, the cheers as mortarboards were thrown in the air, and the sweetest sound of all, my daughters' first cries.

Sometimes the nicest thing that we can do for ourselves is to sit quietly in the moment, close our eyes, and just listen to the sounds that surround us.

When I close my eyes today, I can hear the cicadas in the trees, the swish of tires on the wet pavement, the whir of the ceiling fan above my head, and the rain hitting against my windows.

These sounds calm me and bring serenity into my moment. The worries of the day slip away, and just like the memories I have of earlier times, I save this moment in my mind as a memory for a future day.