Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Sense of time

Ever have one of those days that seem to last for six weeks? Ever have one minute that wish upon wish would last longer than a nanosecond? Time is a confusing beast. It changes and morphs and lives on some odd continuum.

At work, tedious typing can go on for days on end, while not even a mere morning has passed by.

At home, challenging moments with my children can stretch like bitter taffy until I am pulled so thin that the whole confection line breaks.

The wonder moments never last long enough. I guess that is what pictures and stories are all about. I guess that is what the Bible is about too.

I'm aging more rapidly now than I did ten years ago. That makes sense. Trust me, if you are still in your 30's. My connection with the merry go round that keeps time running shifts. This week, I had an opportunity to know that perspectives vary. I mean, I knew that. I just told you that, but I witnessed a perspective that is very different from mine and thought I'd share it here.

An older person, older than me, and probably older than me and you plus your neighbor- came in. His nephew had been ill. His nephew at that time was 98. 98 years, not 98 farenheight. His nephew was ready to go home, ready to see God, to visit old friends.

The friend came into the office to just let a little bit of angst go by the wayside or out the window. " I've been looking after him, my nephew for such a long time, and he's not been all fun and games, missy." I nodded my head in agreement, which is what you do when a friend who is older than dirt enters your office to vent.


"He's 98 years old. You don't want to be 98 years old and cranky, I'm just telling you that."

I reached for my jar of pastur-ized chick feed and unscrewed the top and offered him the selection of nuts and raisens, comfort food for any occassion.

He looked over his quadfocals and reached into the jar. "He's been ready, sooo ready to go for a long time."

I thought to myself as I returned the jar its rightful place on my desk, " What? the last 20 years or so have been hard? tough? depressing? " "??"

He turned, heading out and back to the reception area. " Yeah, he's been ready for at least two weeks now."

oh. well. that is a long time, I guess in the scheme of things. Or maybe not.

What's a long time for you today?

2 comments:

Unknown said...

The next six weeks look long as I prepare for and experience a major life transition and all the attendant emotions for myself and especially for those around me. Thanks for asking this and for putting time into perspective.
Bless you this Thanksgiving Day!

KaKi said...

A long time. Well, time has just gotten longer since I brought my mom home and she is showing beginning signs of Alzheimer's. A day for her can be eternity when at 10 a.m. she thinks it is 3 p.m. Thus makes a long day for me.