When did we stop looking at the world around us with a child-like wonder? What happened to our bottomless well of imagination?

When I was a child I remember walking to the bus stop, especially on cold mornings like this one, hearing the crunch of the frozen earth beneath my shoes. I would marvel at the mist that came from my own mouth as my breath met the cold air. I used to imagine that I was trudging through the frozen Artic. I could go on expeditions to study polar bears or penguins. Maybe it was because cold mornings like that were rare in Georgia. I don't know.

I also remember standing at that same bus stop and gazing in the distance at a clump of trees and imagining that I saw giants or Greek gods. How many times did I lay in the grass, looking up at the clouds, to spot an elephant or a car or a clown in the sky? Do kids do that any more?

Last night I felt validated, redeemed. It was a very interesting chain of events. First I was sitting in my living room watching "French Kiss" on television- I used to love Meg Ryan's work- when Ruby called to see if I was coming to the AA Christmas party. I'm no longer in the loop over there. I had no idea that it was time for their party nor did I care. I don't want to do anyone's inventory, but that recovery community hasn't been the same since last October when the board members did their stuff. So, I turned her down. Second, I went to get my family earlier than I'd said I was going to. We rode around and viewed the Christmas lights in town. Then we went to Sonic and got ourselves a milk shake. There was a brief pit stop at my apartment and then we went on to The Martin to view "August Rush."

Now, here is where I was validated and redeemed. It began with "French Kiss" or should I say it began with an e-mail exchange with a phantom and the movie. Meg Ryan has been ditched by her fiancee for a French goddess he's met in Paris. She battles fear of flying and goes to win him back. She witnesses his behavior with the said goddess, is robbed, and tricked into some major theft by three different men. Thus, she comes to the conclusion that all men are bastards. In the process of trying to recover something he has planted in her duffle bag, one of these men sets out to prove her wrong. He even helps her win back the fiancee only for her to discover that she no longer wants him. I guess what I got out of that movie was that sometimes we think we want something that isn't right for us. We believe we are in love when we are actually only infatuated with the idea of "happily ever after". True love actually has flaws. It is in overlooking the flaws and accepting people as they really are that we truly love.

Then came "August Rush"- my childhood was redeemed. I don't know who wrote the screen play but they must have lived inside my head at one time. This child prodigy heard music all around him, just as I did at one time. His child-like wonder and faith that he'd find his parents was touching. He lived amid all kinds of bad things and came out untouched by it all. I felt in some ways as if I was reliving my childhood. But it also put me in mind of Q. I pray that he and his brothers are okay. I want them to be clean, well fed, and have a safe place to play and rest. My heart aches for this lost child. I hope that he will one day find his way back to our school. I want to know that he is okay. I fear that he will be one of those children that we read about in the paper one day. But perhaps "August Rush" is a sign of things to come for Q, too. He, too, is a prodigy. He is able to draw phenomenal things.

The best thing was that I had quality time with my mother and brother- I did not have to go looking for companionship among people that make me uncomfortable. We spent hours in each other's company without getting aggitated with each other. And we also learned of a local theater that we can afford in town- The Martin.