Are you so old that you can't remember "The Tingle?" The Tingle was the feeling of anticipation you felt on Christmas Eve when you were about five. Someone called it Butterflies. You experienced The Tingle again a few years later when you hoped and prayed, and hoped and prayed some more that you would get the new red two wheel bicycle with the hand brakes for your 10th birthday. More years passed and when you were about fifteen The Tingle returned when your date took your hand and then moved close to kiss your lips. Okay, that was definitely a different tingle, but a tingle nevertheless. You got older and the tingles got bigger and better. You felt The Tingle in the church when you looked into the loving eyes of your new lifemate and The Tingle was as great as it ever could be when you held your brand new baby for the very first time. That was a very big tingle.
I have experienced all these tingles, time and time again. Obviously some were bigger and better than others. Some last a lifetime and some fade away quite quickly. I can hardly remember The Tingle when I got the new green bike in Grade Five, but I can remember another Tingle I experienced the very same year like it was yesterday. Robert Thompson took my hand at the Riverside Skating rink, just as the lights dimmed for the final few laps. Wow.
I am feeling The Tingle right now as I wait for tomorrow to come. Alone, I busy myself preparing for the arrival of family and as the time approaches for my grandson to come, The Tingle gets stronger. His shell collection is waiting for him on the table outside, I've double checked that my camera battery is fully charged and I can't decide whether to put the new Spiderman fleece blanket on the living room couch or on his bed to keep him warm at night. As I type these words I can feel his little hand in mine and I can hear his precious voice calling "Grandma, I love you so much. Let's play."
Now that's one hell of a Tingle.
