Don't Blink

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"I was glued to my tv
when it looked like he looked at me and said
'Best start putting first things first.'
Cause when your hourglass runs out of sand
You can't flip it over and start again
Take every breathe God gives you for what it's worth
Don't Blink
Just like that you're six years old and you take a nap and you
Wake up and you're twenty-five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife Don't blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your 'better half'
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you're praying God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think
So don't blink" --Kenny Chesney

My honey haired girl surprised me tonight at dinner when she began talking about how sad she felt about growing up and that it was all going by so fast. "Next year I'll be going into senior year, then going to college, and then I'll be going to work. I'm going to be 72 years old before you know it."

I tried to joke her out of it by explaining how slowly time would pass when her old mother was living with her and repeating the same thoughts and sentences hour after hour. And the loss of impulse control...Those will be long days indeed for her, bless her heart. But she wasn't buying it.

The hubby and I talked about it when we walked the dog and the words to The Circle Game came to his mind. I think every generation probably has their own anthem of life's speed and the fleeting quality of its moments. Joni Mitchell sang ours.

How do you tell an earnest faced honey haired girl child about savoring, even in the quickness of them, the happy days, the days that go by one jumbled on top of another identical in their routines? How do you tell this sweet soul to put the memories of these days in a safe place to use as a bulwark for the day when time moves too slowly through air thick with pain or loneliness? I can't do it.

Comments

  1. LydiaAugust 30, 2008 at 2:09 AM

    Poignant piece. Was Joni Mitchell ever that young? Were we? god I love her stuff, all of it, but always and especially this song.

    (I like very much this video format. Is that a new gadget at Blogger? I'll hunt.)

    Enjoy every morsel of the long weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousAugust 30, 2008 at 11:34 AM

    Lovely post! More and more I am living by what gives me bliss and refusing to do the things that don't, but also we have to learn to embrace the painful stuff too.
    I love joni :-). Have a very blissful weekend and don't blink :-).

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousAugust 31, 2008 at 6:10 PM

    I once confided in a friend that it is easier if we accept that life isn't a line of milestones that we follow but experiences that we accumulate. All time exists at once, so that the 15-year-old me, 25-year-old me and 40-year-old me all occupy the same space with the same weight.

    I love Five for Fighting's song, "A Hundred Years." The video is one of my favorite music videos ever.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Teresa aka TessMarch 20, 2009 at 12:34 PM

    Wow, Don't blink! When I'm with my daughter Bobbie, or my granddaughter, I feel like this: Don't blink! You can try to help her to understand but did we, then. No, it's a lesson we have to learn, this slowing down and savoring each moment. She will one day, and remember your talk, and she'll smile...

    ReplyDelete

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Hey, thanks for your thoughts and your time:>)

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