Today’s Wisdom: “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.” Lyndon B. Johnson
A while back I was sitting in a comfortable chair watching a baseball game. The score was 3-1. All of a sudden I noticed the score was 9-1. My team had scored six runs. I had missed it all. While this loss of time might be evidence of an alien abduction, it is more likely that I fell asleep for a few minutes.
That was bad but nothing like my wife’s comment as we were sitting with our son wondering what to do when we visited him in New York. I said we could see a Yankees game, which everyone vetoed. Noting that we were staying in Brooklyn, my wife suggested we see a Dodgers game. When we pointed out that the Dodgers had moved from Brooklyn some time ago, she asked, “When did that happen?”
That is really the question. When did life happen? Where did the time go? I was in the middle of a career, raising kids and doing life. All of a sudden everything is different. Much of what I had valued, dreamed of, and worked hard for was over. I was retired.
We all face that time when everything changes. Even though it took us many years to get to where we are today, most would agree that the time went fast, too fast.
I don’t miss the work life too much, although it was very interesting, and the sense of worth it brought was valuable. I do miss the adventures of growing up, and the thrill of getting to know a young lady. But what I miss most is the kids. I would give much to have another chance to do the tuck in routine at bedtime, play again those ballgames in the backyard, or watch them off on their first dates. I would even enjoy going through the pain of unloading their stuff in their freshman college dorm.
Although I would give much, there is no one to write the check to. No one can send us back. We can only go forward. So forward it is, but with the joy of seeing all those great times with those kids now manifest into the sum total of who they have become as adults.
Maybe it was all designed to be that way. Going backward is not usually a productive movement. I know it never was in all those Candy Land games we played. Forward is good. At least we can go with all the good memories. I’m just sayin.’
Bill’s book, In Search of Life the Journey: An Exploration of the Idea of Life After Death, is available at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.