Moment

Today's prompt: Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors).

This year was so full of these moments. My marriage, my move, losing a job I adored--all moments in which I felt the kind of alive the author is asking about. As I was considering which to share--some of them are so personal it would be like trying to describe sound using sign language--I thought of a tender, perfect moment I wanted to document.

Shortly after I was married to my husband we were together on the lawn of the LDS Temple in Mesa taking pictures with our family and friends. My best, good friend Amber was there, dressed in brilliant red, her hair gleaming as usual. It's a beautiful color of blond and I'm always amazed at how lovely it looks in the sunlight--just like I'd describe the color of happiness. She came over to give me a hug and as we embraced a feeling of complex love, trust, friendship, loss, grief and affection surrounded the two of us.

The dynamics of that particular hug would take our five-plus years of friendship to explain but I can so clearly remember the feeling of the tears building up in my eyes, my body unable to contain those intense flavors of emotion without manifesting it, as I held her body against mine. I remember how quiet things got. The hectic, excited conversation just fell away around us and we stood there for a moment--just the two of us. Knowing that moment would change, again, our friendship and mourning the loss of what once was while both knowing better times were ahead.

It was one of my very favorite moments ever.