Time

  It seems like the days go by very slowly, especially in the winter. Then other times you blink and the week is over. If you are waiting for vacation then the days drag on. Even though you just paid your hydro bill another has arrived thanking you for paying the previous one....three weeks ago. Our concept of time seems to be ever changing.

  The true measure of time can be found in our children. I can remember every single detail of the day we took Alex home from the hospital. How we put the car seat in wrong. The speed we drove to get across the city. Taking him through the house and giving him the grand tour. Even putting him in the bassinet beside our bed and watching him sleep. That was almost fourteen years ago. Hard to believe.

  That same baby is now almost six feet tall with headphones permanently attached to his head. The only similarity left is the overwhelming appetite! And to us it seems like yesterday or maybe last year. Time flew by.

  Riley is double digits now. I was carrying him to get Alex from the school bus just last week. Or so it seems. No more putting him to bed and reading him a story. Now he might ask to be tucked in but he's reading himself a book and rolling over. Independence has arrived in many ways from walking alone to the bus stop to not giving me a hug when his friends are around. Again flying by.

  Yesterday it was five years since my Dad died. Five years. Can't be. It seems like I just spoke to him last week and he was asking me how much snow we had. How could five years have passed that quickly? Doesn't seem possible. Death is another way to truly see how fast the days go by.

  Use the "for company" dishes with the fancy wine glasses even if you are having macaroni and milk. Leave the dishes in the sink and take that walk with your spouse. Don't worry about the beds not being made and dance with your children. Forget about the messy house and invite your friends over and laugh til you cry or even pee a little. Pick up the phone and call your grandmother. Life is too short.

   Those saying we are so fond of....I can't wait til vacation, come on Friday, wait til I retire, I'll do that next year.....show how little we understand time and it's passing. Time waits for no one. Not you. Not me. 

  Let's use it wisely.

  Ang