Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Braking For Time

Time, I would like to slam on the brakes of time, why does it seem to spin faster and faster. Driving to my parents in the final days of June I had one of those memory moments. Passing through local towns with that spring smell, the smell that signals the last days of school and you can't help being carried back to those times. Starting to realize you are becoming an adult, the places where you hang out, going swimming with friends, parties, final school dances, getting through exams. You are at the beginning of your adult life and sadly most are too young to understand the full excitement of it. Where did all those people go, most moved away, some married, had children and sadly some left us all too early. In my mind all these people are still teenagers, frozen in their school age image, until I bump into one of them and see the results of time on their faces. I snap back to the present and I am a man dreaming of those past days, on his way to see his parents, two people who are elderly now, how did that happen. I miss those days but time spins on, hmmm end of June, it is the middle of July already, please time slow down.

I was invited to a back yard party with Dave last week, no wait it was the week before, how did it go by so fast, please time slow down. There were mostly people our age, a few older and younger as well. They had great food, dancing and everyone had a nice time. However as the clock began to tick towards nine, everyone began to say good bye. People packed up their belongings and loaded their cars. It was not even dark yet and there were to be fireworks later plus more food, at one time we would have stayed until at least midnight. However now there are too many commitments, some had to get up and work the next day, some had left the kids at home with a baby sitter and some said they need to be in bed by ten or the next day would be shot. There were some people who planned on staying but then felt odd about it and so decided to leave as well. Dave was getting sleepy as he is an early riser and so we also left. I couldn't help comment on the way home, when did this happen, when did we get old. Please time slow down, everything is changing so fast now, that you are making me dizzy. I can't help think how hard it must have been for my Grand Parents, time changed but also the world changed from when they were little, no electricity or running water to DVD players and computers. No wonder my last Grandparent, my Grandmother said that she was not bothered if her time came soon, she did not want to live much longer because everyone she knew had passed away and she felt alone, saying when she died, then she could rejoin them in Heaven. Granny was over a hundred and passed away a few months after this statement, alert and active until the very day.

I feel sorry for the cool hippies from the sixties who talk about colouring their gray hair, about taking viagra and wearing depends. I feel sorry for me and my friends, we see that is coming for us one day. How long has it been since Madonna released her first album, ten years, no wait it is.... crap that long! When did the Breakfast Club become one of those movies people scoff at. How long has it been since Ghost Busters! My friend's little boy that I used to babysit from time to time, has his birthday coming up, wow how old will he be now... maybe 13... no wait yikes 14... what's that... turning twenty! I need to lie down, what happened to the Ninja Turtles, Lego and his Wrestling men! Oh I see they were replaced with a Mustang and a cute girl that giggles way too much.

Please time slow down you are spinning way too fast and you have me confused as to whether I have come a long way, or I have wasted so much of you... that I am still in the same place as that boy who walked out of High school for the last time, so many years ago.

7 comments:

Birdie said...

That boy is still inside you, as are all the permutations of the boy you were and the man you became. Instead of mourning their passing, revel in your memories and the wisdom you gain from having so many "people" upon whom to draw.

Time is an artificial construct. What was is no more, and what will be is not here yet. Draw a deep breath of what is now and inhale the scents of the day. Be here, live here and now, and be alive in the present; it has so much to give. And so do you.

Alan said...

Nice post, sometimes I think I'm the only one who notices time moving so ....well....how it wants too...without my permission

I'm glad, from reading your profile, that your free from the closet.

I often wonder about people from high school also, and wonder how we would of all reacted, at the time, had we known about......... all this "living" we would have to go through

Vic Mansfield said...

It's true, if only we could slow it all down.

But, aging is the only way to live.

danny/ink2metal said...

hey steven,

look at it this way: enjoy every moment in its entirety because it all does seem to just be gone in a fleeting second.

now that i am at the doorstep of turning forty, i think it's crazy that the new generation of young adults is so hung up on having everything NOW, NOW, NOW! or worse YESTERDAY!

i still have at least forty more years to look forward to and that seems like plenty of time to me.

Joe Jubinville said...

Where did it go? I have been feeling a catch in my heart the last couple days thinking of those I've known, family and friends, the boy, the teen, the young man that was me, already gone... Stories lived, hearts that loved, all, in one way or another, so soon gone.

Oh very young
What will you leave us this time
Youre only dancing on this earth for a short while
And though your dreams may toss and turn you now
They will vanish away like your daddys best jeans
Denim blue fading up to the sky
And though you want them to last forever
You know they never will
You know they never will
And the patches make the goodbye harder still

Cat Stevens

Bill said...

Thanks, Steven. This is a good reminder to enjoy every moment, and do my best today. It's how the yesterdays become pleasant memories, and the tomorrows free from regrets.

Anonymous said...

It seems we all feel the same way. What gets to be immediately noticeable is the sun disappearing quicker and quicker. Or arriving later and later. ;-)