I used to shut my eyes tight and believe that if I wished hard enough a moment could last forever. Birthday parties. Snow days. Times when I was the line leader in elementary school.

Squeeze tighter, Hannah. The harder you wish, the more likely you are to grip “forever” in your hands.

Trust me, if this were the truth, if we could actually wish with all our might and gain the power to make anything last forever, well then I would have had “forever” in a choke hold with the intensity I put into my wishes.

Of course I grew out of this idea and away from those birthday parties with the pink streamers and those days where we donned our puffy snow pants to go out sledding. But I know I still wish that I could designate the word “forever” to some things and some people in my life. Make it so they never had anywhere to be but in some moment with me. Make it so “please stay” was never a phrase in our vocabulary.

Selfish, maybe. Realistic, no. But unfair of me to ask? I don’t think so.

We all have that moment, stocked up and stored in our memory, waiting for a time where it can reemerge and glisten in the light of our recollection. An instance where, only for a moment, time seemed to stand still and we believed that forever might just be ours.For some of us that moment happened over 10 years ago. For others, it may have been yesterday or we may just be lucky enough to stumble upon it tomorrow.

It is not that we should waste our days thinking that we can stand against the hands of time and defy moving forward. Time will not stand still for us. But it is necessary that we examine those moments once in a while, look at them from every and each angle. Admire Them. Cherish Them. Understand Them. Share Them.

There is a reason that we keep these moments. There is a reason why they never leave us. There is a reason why we will grow old with these “forever” moments, tell some to our children and keep some well hidden in our hearts. It is in these moments that we may not understand life, but we understand why it is that we live. And we allow that to be enough.

Here is my forever moment (told in third person): Their hands interlocked with one another, laced together like adjoining pieces in the world’s most coveted puzzle. She beamed with a liveliness that had the potential to make all of Manhattan jealous. Beautiful people moved in every direction; heading home as dusk barreled through the crowded streets. She was home in a place where she had never before laid her head to sleep, but had hinged her dreams upon this city all her life. The two walked amongst the busy streets, encountering a thousand mini walking men lighting up the crossing signs and daring them to move. Here she was: lost and in love. Her Manhattan; the city that held her heart. She felt him brush up against her ear, whispering softly, “I know this is where I will find you someday.” They continued to walk, not knowing what the future would hold for them but investing hope in the word “forever.” She knew she was leaving her heart behind, but for the first time could tell that she would return one day to pick it back up. Like a cheater in a good game of hide and seek, she would know exactly where to look when she returned.

What is your forever moment?