Moments of joy

So close you could reach out and touch!

I'm finishing this piece watching my team playing in the final draw of the continental cup. Thomas made one miss a couple of inches, which broke my heart. Then made some wonderful shots to get those points back.

I started writing this piece in October after I got to see my beloved Team Ulsrud play at the High Park Club in the Stu Sells Tankard. But after the event was over, I found that this piece wanted to be written instead. Since it's curling focused, Sandy very graciously published in on her blog. (Thankfully, the team did what they needed to do and are returning to the Olympics.)

Then my mom's health got critical and my focus has been elsewhere. After getting caught up on sleep, I can now enjoy watching my favourite team play. They had suggested when I talked to them that I try to get to this event. Tempting but not possible with mom going into long-term care on Monday.

Watching them in camera close up reminds me of the excitement I had the first draw where I was so close if there wasn't a plate of glass between us, I could reach out and touch them. (Took the photo above to have proof.) I was literally bouncing in my seat. I never imagined I'd ever get to see that close. It actually changed how I watched them play. I couldn't do my usual intense body-language watching because it's disconcerting to be watched that closely by someone right there and I didn't want to throw off their game.

But boy was I happy. Joyous. I tried so hard to hold onto that feeling. The day ended with me getting a photo with the entire team, something I wanted for a long time. It's a picture I treasure.

L-R: Christoffer Svae, Torger Nergård, me, Thomas Ulsrud, Håvard Vad Petersson. And no, my hand is not on Bompi's knee!

I went home reminding myself to treasure these moments of perfect joy. Like the back end of this game I just watched. (We won't talk about the draw to the button that decided the damn thing.)

The last few months have driven home how important moments of joy really are. It's so easy to let them go by quickly. I will not make that mistake again.