Time does pass in the blink of an eye

It was Christmas day and we were sitting in my step-daughter’s living room. There was my wife, myself, our grandson, granddaughter and her boyfriend, my wife’s first husband and his significant other, my stepdaughter and her husband and three of his relatives.We had just finished a delicious picnic style Christmas dinner and were getting ready to open up the gifts. I looked above the fireplace at two graduation photos of our grandchildren. When I looked at the pictures I immediately thought of how fast the kids have grown. It made me think about the current country song Don’t Blink by Kenny Chesney.  It is a song about how fast everything seems to happen in life when you are looking back. A topic I have related to several times this past year. I have been surprised with the number of people who have had the same feelings.  Many of you have talked with me about how fast kids and grandkids grow from year to year. It seems like every time we see the grandchildren they have grown far more than we anticipated.Our grandson is looking into going into the service early this year. Our granddaughter is almost out of college, I guess I should take down my favorite picture of her on a three-wheeler when she was four or five. She also has a very serious relationship with a really nice guy. These are two positive indications that she may be fleeing the nest soon.  Because of these circumstances it made us wonder how often we would be able to be with all of them at the same time in the future. Many people we talked to told us that we should take advantage of this year and make the trip.  As I sat there watching and listening to all of the talk about everything they are involved in and their immediate and future plans I was glad we took their advice and made the trip.The trip turned out to be really good for us. My son and his wife invited us over for Christmas Eve dinner. This was one of the few holidays that we have been with him and his wife on Christmas Eve or Christmas. As I sat there talking with them he was talking about Social Security and its pitfalls for future generations I thought, is he really that old? I realized that he has reached the age where he has heard all of my stories enough times that he can now tell them himself. There we were talking about his future and me wondering why time goes by so fast.Fortunately for me my son and I have a great relationship. We are more like good friends than father and son. We talk several times a week and never hesitate to call one another.  After he turned 16 he moved to another state and from that point on we have never lived in the same state. I have been there for all the big occasions, high school graduation, college graduation and his marriage. It has been three days together and 362 days apart, a lot happens in the 362 days apart. It has not been much different for my wife’s children and grandchildren. I consider them my grandkids because one of them was two when I came into her life and the other had not been born. In their early years we lived close to them so we enjoyed the time with them often. It was not long before we moved away and then we only saw them a few times a year. During those visits you often heard, “boy have you grown.” We kept up to date with them, but it still went by fast. My problem is that old photo on the wall is how I would like to keep them. Their lives seemed to be more fun when they were younger and they did all the funny stuff as they learn about life. But, I also want them to grow up and experience all the things they can in life. I guess I want my cake and eat it too.The only thing I can do is to keep all the visions in my head and continue to enjoy them all. Fortunately, I seldom remember any of the bad times, so it will be good memories. I just hope the next time I sit in a room at Christmas and we are blessed with great grandkids that I am not still wondering how fast it goes.So I plan to take time each day for the near future and think about what a wonderful Christmas it was and picture each of the kids and re-run the fun and laughter we had this holiday season. So in the spirit of New Year I plan to find a way to enjoy each moment a little longer and try to make more images in my mind for me to recall later in life. Maurice Emery is the Editor Emeritus of The Littleton Observer. In addition to regular news coverage for the paper, he also writes a weekly column.Check out his blog at www.athoughtortwo.comRead and share his past columns with your friend at www.athoughtortwo.com