"need you"

My heart just melts. Every time. And I wish I could capture the moment forever.

"Need you" comes his two-year-old voice with pleading eyes and up-stretched arms. "Need you Mommy." It starts soft and comes louder and louder and follows me around until my attention is gained.

"I need you too" I respond as I pick him up. Sometimes it's just a whisper, sometimes an exclamation, and other times a quiet thought.

I hope; no, I need to remember and keep the sweetness of our exchange forever in my heart. I need to remember the moment almost as if I am capturing air to save for a time when I know I will need a breath.

I know as time goes and he grows the outward expression of his needs will become more subtle and less dependent. And this is what I hope for, but can't bear to think of: the journey of his independence. And yet, it has already started... In fact it is part of my responsibility to teach him and help him grow into it.

I have been accused a time or two of thinking too far ahead. Of taking on worries that do not need to be worried about just yet. And although I know it, I still do it. I reason that it comes more out of preparation than fear. That somehow if I can prepare, my heart will weather better.

But today, I resolve not to think of tomorrow, but to treasure this moment so deep that it need not be recorded to be remembered.