"Listen to this, Mom," Dave said. Then he left me to listen, and went back down stairs to continue unpacking. He's home from college for the summer and is trying to reestablish his nook in the basement.
I don't think he expected to find me in tears when he came back to the kitchen. But the song moved me… a cliché of a song really… and that's not meant to take anything away from it. It was a "time flies" song, and that theme's been done to death. Remember Turn Around?
*Turn around and you're two,
Turn around and you're four,
Turn around and you're a young girl going out of my door.
Turn around and you're four,
Turn around and you're a young girl going out of my door.
Tempus fugit. Whether you're having fun or not.
But there's no reasoning with emotion. There was something about the music and the lyrics, something about the YouTube video portrayal of an old man of 102 exhorting us to love… that hit me.
Dave hugged me. "Sorry," he said. "It's kind of depressing." I rested my head against his chest, this tall young man who just yesterday, I swear, was my baby.
But no, I assured him, it wasn't depressing at all. Just poignant.
I recently attended a 100th birthday celebration. I was there to get the story for the newspaper, but the celebrant, Rose, fell and was whisked to the hospital rather than her party, so I didn't meet her until later. A lovely woman, she didn't look 100--or what my image of 100 is, anyway--and she seemed not to think her milestone age was much of a big deal.
"I never gave it any thought," she said. "I took each day as it came."
There is no secret, formula, I suspect, for reaching a ripe old age--other than good genes and a little luck. But there is a secret to being happy at any age: love those around you. Don't hold back. Time flies.
*A hundred years goes faster than you think.
So don't Blink.
*Turn Around by Harry Belafonte, Malvina Reynolds and Alan Greene. Published by Clara Music Publishing Corporation
*Don't Blink by Kenny Chesney
~~~~~
The Present is a Point just passed. ~David Russell
~~~~~
The Present is a Point just passed. ~David Russell
Comments
Karna Converse
I look at my grandchildren now graduating, and wonder where those years went.
The song was perfect....made me teary eyed.
Ruth, thanks for your lovely words on my blog.
Love and Hugs
Wanda
Your son is a good looking young man and the two of you certainly make a nice looking couple!
Enjoyed this post and your wise words.
Take care.
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