The power of eye contact

Eyes are the windows to the soul, or so someone said, once upon a time. I have always felt this to be true, but today I truly felt the power and pull of eye contact. It was after a great day with Thomas the Train (will post on that next time) and Bear Cub had fallen asleep in his car seat on the way home. He woke up as soon as I got him out, crying for his new "too-too" (train), but I took him into his room anyway with hopes of getting down for his nap. Well, that didn't work out, so I decided to rock with him in the rocking chair. He actually let me cradle him for what seemed like a long time, compared to usual. We stared into each other's eyes for the longest time. This is probably the longest amount of eye contact that he and I have shared and he kept giving me the sweetest of smiles -- almost as if we had a secret, and I think that we do. The secret is this...the connection between mother and child truly has nothing to do with where that child came from or from whom. He may not have ever been connected to me physically, but there is no doubt that we are connected by the strings of the heart, and most importantly, the soul. So today, when least expected, we shared that secret silently, only with our eyes, but we both heard the message loud and clear. It's moments like these that define parenthood and the true meaning of love. It's a moment like this that defines who I am. Wow.
Eyes...the windows to the soul...and heart.