The Balloons

Today,
I was walking my dog like I usually do.
Down a street that I usually don't.


I was contemplating how the thin trees standing to my left and right must have thrived through only a handful of seasons so far. And how someday they'd be tall and strong. Established.


Marveling,

I shook my head and all but laughed.

Then I saw a sight that nearly beckoned tears.

Just ahead, girls were popping balloons, one by one. Shining red and silver ones shaped like stars, all tied together, and tethered to the hand of the youngest as they waved in the wind.

Watching,

I saw her eyes turn hopefully skyward.

The fist-full of string dropped toward the ground.

Newly freed balloons began to travel upwards in a gentle float. All eyes were pulled to watch. The girls, myself, a man working on his truck-- all were captivated if only for just a moment.

Breathing,

I wondered at the incomprehensible heights.

The kind we achieve when we lay everything down.

--------------------------------And. Just. Let. Go-------------------------------

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