Einstein theorized about time being a non-linear event. I must say I agree with him. I don't have any mathematical formula to demonstrate my theory, or propose a hypothesis, I've got gray hair. I've been around the block a few times as the saying goes. Now I know I'm not getting any faster, and the block isn't getting any shorter, but the laps are faster. That leaves time as the variable. Time has sped up! It was something that became evident as I took photographs for my granddaughters homecoming. That's correct, my granddaughter and the high school homecoming celebration. Just how did I get here this fast? Wasn't it last year she graduated elementary school? And those other girls, friends of hers, names I have heard, I never realized they were young ladies. I thought they were just kids. Heels and plunging necklines! Hold on here, I must be at the wrong party or at least in the wrong decade. Man, time sure does fly.
I was talking with my sister about all of this and she agreed the same thing was happening to her. We talked about this and that. She told me a funny anecdote about her daughter. Her daughter wanted to go to school when she was little, couldn't wait. My sister told her she could go to school when she was five. Well, her birthday is in January, a fact my sister had failed to take into account when promising her daughter she could go to school. Her birthday arrived and she came out of her bedroom. She was dressed and ready to go to school! My sister told me she felt so bad about telling her she could go to school she took her to a pre-school and signed her up. The lesson being, be careful what you tell or promise children, they may not forget. I remembered taking the grandkids to the pre-school about two blocks from my house. My wife or I would drop them off and pick them up everyday. All of that was over ten years ago now, doesn't seem possible. I remember those kids writing their first letters and counting the steps on the stairs. I remember teaching my granddaughter about the spring onions in the grass and how you could tell if you liked butter with a buttercup. And now, she is wearing heels! I was reminded of an old song, when a girl goes from bobby socks to stockings. Sensibilities have changed somewhat but the sentiment is the same. She is growing up, all too fast. I'm not certain I'm ready for that. Sure her parents say the same thing, but they are still young, they have time. They are still on the plateau just cruisin' along. I've always known that as you age you begin to go downhill. I've heard that adage a million times. Thing is, I just realized that also means picking up speed! Time is going faster. These old wheels are beginning to wobble a bit I sure hope they don't fall off!
Well, she has another two years in high school, another two homecomings, I'm just jumping the gun. Maybe it is anticipation, anticipation for all the wonderful things yet to come to her. Isn't it the strangest thing? By the time you really learn to enjoy and appreciate the value of life's moments for others, your own time grows shorter. Then you want to be around to see the joy in their eyes when they experience those moments. Life truly is a circle. Being a grandparent you do get to recapture some youth, you do it through those grandkids. I'm looking forward to maybe, possibly, being a great grandparent one day. Of course I don't want that to happen right away, let's slow it down a bit. Hmm, a bit of a dilemma wouldn't you say? Well, time isn't a linear thing so it's a possibility. I recall taking my kids and grandkids to pre-school. I wasn't aware that I was escorting the future. But now, now I'm thinking that is what parents, grandparents and great grandparents are for, to lead the way. I've got them all this far. I'm thinking the next generation will need my help as well, is that presumptuous? I don't think so, I just know the trail. I'm not real sure what lies ahead, but I know how to get there. What I don't know is, how I got here.
I was talking with my sister about all of this and she agreed the same thing was happening to her. We talked about this and that. She told me a funny anecdote about her daughter. Her daughter wanted to go to school when she was little, couldn't wait. My sister told her she could go to school when she was five. Well, her birthday is in January, a fact my sister had failed to take into account when promising her daughter she could go to school. Her birthday arrived and she came out of her bedroom. She was dressed and ready to go to school! My sister told me she felt so bad about telling her she could go to school she took her to a pre-school and signed her up. The lesson being, be careful what you tell or promise children, they may not forget. I remembered taking the grandkids to the pre-school about two blocks from my house. My wife or I would drop them off and pick them up everyday. All of that was over ten years ago now, doesn't seem possible. I remember those kids writing their first letters and counting the steps on the stairs. I remember teaching my granddaughter about the spring onions in the grass and how you could tell if you liked butter with a buttercup. And now, she is wearing heels! I was reminded of an old song, when a girl goes from bobby socks to stockings. Sensibilities have changed somewhat but the sentiment is the same. She is growing up, all too fast. I'm not certain I'm ready for that. Sure her parents say the same thing, but they are still young, they have time. They are still on the plateau just cruisin' along. I've always known that as you age you begin to go downhill. I've heard that adage a million times. Thing is, I just realized that also means picking up speed! Time is going faster. These old wheels are beginning to wobble a bit I sure hope they don't fall off!
Well, she has another two years in high school, another two homecomings, I'm just jumping the gun. Maybe it is anticipation, anticipation for all the wonderful things yet to come to her. Isn't it the strangest thing? By the time you really learn to enjoy and appreciate the value of life's moments for others, your own time grows shorter. Then you want to be around to see the joy in their eyes when they experience those moments. Life truly is a circle. Being a grandparent you do get to recapture some youth, you do it through those grandkids. I'm looking forward to maybe, possibly, being a great grandparent one day. Of course I don't want that to happen right away, let's slow it down a bit. Hmm, a bit of a dilemma wouldn't you say? Well, time isn't a linear thing so it's a possibility. I recall taking my kids and grandkids to pre-school. I wasn't aware that I was escorting the future. But now, now I'm thinking that is what parents, grandparents and great grandparents are for, to lead the way. I've got them all this far. I'm thinking the next generation will need my help as well, is that presumptuous? I don't think so, I just know the trail. I'm not real sure what lies ahead, but I know how to get there. What I don't know is, how I got here.
No comments:
Post a Comment