Another year gone by, another wrinkle or two added to my face, another year taking away the “little” out of my children. My how time ticks by! Dad would always say to me…”Son, enjoy your youth while you still have it.” My reply? “Yeah, whatever Dad”, and I blew him off. Well now, nearly turning 34 this next month, those words of my father keep on echoing inside “that place” that never lets me forget.
Do you remember how long the school year would take when we were kids? I swore that it would never end. The wait until the end of the school year seemed like an eternity. Even the minutes in the day seemed like they ticked by in slow motion, clueless of the flash forward of time that would be inevitable. All I worried about was who I was going to play with at recess and after school, what TV show I would watch in the evening (not much of a choice for me, because we only got 4 channels out in the boonies and that was after dad climbed on the roof to adjust the antenna), and where I would go to build a fort or two.
Now I worry about what I’m going to teach during my students’ recess, what TV shows I will not let my “innocent” daughters watch (which is challenging in this day and age), and how I can make my “fort” better (money usually being involved this time though).
I still experience my childhood through my memories that play like a vintage movie, and through my daughters’ imaginative play. However, the youth inside of this body of mine is suddenly changing in interesting ways and it won’t let me forget how time is continually running its course. Many of us “adults” are still kids at heart though and definitely live through our children and the youth of our ever changing world. If only time can slow down just a little, enough for us to think of the important things in life and let us appreciate the little time we really do have on this Earth. I would love to have more time to soak in the precious moments that are starting to play faster every year. If only life was a DVR, if only.
Live today, remember always, and never forget what is important.
Have a wonderful start to your new year!
