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Reflections on Time
Have you ever heard the cliche “Time Flies“? Do you think time flies? If time flies where does it go? The subject of time has been on my mind a lot lately. Maybe it is because I have had two granddaughters marry this year. I have been remembering when they were small children. Where did that time go? We have had lots of loving and fun times. Maybe it is because I will be 70 years old in a few months. I realize that life is very important, how very short it is and how fast it goes.
Time is defined in many ways depending on how you use it in a sentence. In this instance, time can be described as ones lifetime. Time is a non spatial continuum, in which events occur in apparent irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future. As the clock ticks off minutes, hours and days, we may not have finished what we are doing or what we want to do, but the clock keeps ticking leaving us with less time. Time is irreplaceable and it cannot be saved.
As a child, time seemed like it stopped, it didn't go fast enough. We thought time would never pass for us to reach the age of twenty one. By the time we reach our fifties, we are thinking that time is going much to fast. As time passes, it picks up the pace. We hear "the older I get the faster time goes", or "time really flies". We look back on our memories and what is known as the “good old days.” We wonder where the time has gone. Time is the most valuable resource that we have.
Remembering those "good old days", my grandparents lived a block from my parents house. Growing up, I spent a lot of time there. After my Grandfather retired, both of them stitched hand made quilts. They used the old quilting frames they kept set up in the dining room. They gave the quilts to children and grandchildren. Grandma used to say “we do it to pass the time”. They also spent many hours in the front porch swing. They would talk about what their lives were like raising their family. My Grandfather owned a gasoline jobber business. The boys in the family helped out there,. The girls helped in the house. They grew vegetables and fruits to feed their family. We heard stories about not having a road in front of their house when they built it, then a mud and gravel road before paving. There was no or little money and things were bartered or traded. During the war, gasoline was one of the things that was rationed . Grandpa would save his ration stamps for my Dad. Dad lived in the big city. For Dad to come home on weekends, Grandpa would give him the stamps. I remember the smell of the blooming sweet peas growing on the fence in the back yard. I remember the fresh baked cookies always available in their cookie jar. Memories remain as if time stood still. As my Grandparents grew older, when we were ending our visit, we would say “we will see you next time”. Grandma would respond with “Well, I hope so.” She knew their time was growing near. My grandparents have both been gone several years, but I will always cherish the memories and the time I spent with my grandparents. Where did the time go?
Now, I am telling stories of the “good old days” to my grandchildren. My parents, the years of my growing up, marrying and raising a family, are just some of the things we talk about. I often wonder how the past 70 years have gone so fast and I think maybe time really does fly. In a span of 70 years there are 25,550 days, 613,000 hours, 36,792,000 minutes and 2,207,520,000 seconds. Did I use this time wisely? We can’t go back and get that time. Did I accomplish everything that was meant for me to do? How will I pass the time for the rest of my years? Will my grandchildren cherish the time I spent with them? I certainly hope so.
In a time for taking stock of ones life, time can be defined as a suitable or opportune moment or season. I have had many moments of opportune moments or seasons. As I look back in time , re-living those memories of past times, can we really determine if time flies? Where did it go? Each of us has the same twenty four hours of a day. The days may go by slowly, but the years really do seem to fly.
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