Sing Out Loud, Sing Out Strong...

Often, when Sarah is around strangers, she'll clam up. Not a peep will escape her well exercised lips. She tucks her head and whispers to me, "I shy."

This weekend, we were at the park. Sarah was on a swing, her favorite place. Swinging to her right was a German speaking girl just a little younger than Sarah. To her left, a dad was pushing his 8 year-old daughter. At first, Sarah did the usual head tuck and only whispered requests to go higher.

After a few minutes, the German mom and I started talking. The dad next to us joined in on the conversation. This must have relaxed Sarah, because she picked her head up and seemed to lose herself in the swinging.

When the German mom asked if the stroller with the pink balloon was ours, Sarah glanced over at the balloon. Then, almost dreamily, she began singing:

I love my pink balloon
Ever where I see
I love my pink balloon
Ever where I see

Completely uninhibited, she wrapped herself fully in the joy of the moment and kept singing this song over and over as the swing took her "up to the clouds".

That's a morning that I never want to forget. Even more, it's a feeling that I never want her to lose.