Joy Bubbles.

I have gotten these all my life and I thought you should know about them.  I mean you probably already know about them but maybe haven't named them...

Joy bubbles. 

So a joy bubble is when you get a burst of happiness in your chest that you can actually feel.  You know that feeling? To me it feels like a bubble. A bubble of joy.

I remember getting a joy bubble earliest probably in my tween years.  When my parents would announce we were having a party or that people were coming to sleep over.  And I'd feel all welled up with joy inside like my chest would explode in excitement for the party or the sleepover. 

But I first named it a joy bubble when I was maybe fifteen.  There was this boy I liked and he liked me back.  When I found out from this other girl that he liked me back I got that feeling and decided to name it.

I got a joy bubble when my friend Amy's mom agreed to take us to the New Kids on the Block concert at Alpine Valley.

I got a joy bubble when I got to sign up for singing lessons at our local music center.

I got a joy bubble when I got accepted to UW-Whitewater even though my high school GPA was just below average at best.

I got a joy bubble when my parents called and said that they and Tad's parents had pitched in to buy a plane ticket for Tad to come see me when I was in the Peace Corps.

I got a joy bubble when the ultrasound tech said "It's a girl." when I was pregnant with Lucy.

And the other day, watching Coen read Harry Potter, curled up on the couch and then getting a joy bubble of his own (I imagine) when Tad told him he could get the movie from the library once he'd finished.  And just thinking about that my son MY SON is almost ten and reading novels and that he's in that place and gets to experience life and stories and movies and friendships...gave ME a joy bubble...  

And lots of other times.

Anyway, joy bubbles are really quite a nice thing and I think it's worth giving them a name.

I hope you get them too.