Wednesday, June 1, 2011

How Time Flies

        Yesterday morning I noticed that my friend, Bob,  had wished his daughter a happy 45th birthday. He mumbled a couple of things about entering into the world of parenthood 45 years ago and that parenthood was still great to this day.

       A week ago a blogging friend did a piece where part of it included a picture of her with her infant son, a son who left her and this world all too soon at the age of 40.

       I was fortunate enough to be 68 years old when my Dad died. I had told Dad that I wanted a Dad until I was 70.

       All of these examples are about the passage of time. With the passage of time there are losses. We lose our youth. We lose our children. We lose our parents. In some ways we lose the past as it dims and disappears.

       With my friend with the 45 year old daughter I couldn't help but comment that back when his daughter was born he was Mr. tall dark and handsome. His daughter got a big chuckle over my comment. I started to think of why she would think the comment humorous. When I first met her Dad he was in his late 20's with some gray hair on the temples. He was a lanky dude who was very active. His daughter obviously does not remember him in that way. By the time she would make memories of her Dad he would have changed physically.

       DJan, the blogger, often writes about her lost son. DJan looked at the picture and could vividly remember her lost son  and it brought back good memories of him. What she felt most about the picture was to look at herself and feel that she could hardly recognize herself. The photo was one that she had not seen before so to see it was a shock.

     As I was reaching rather ancient milestones and visiting my Dad I could see that the wheels were turning in his head. On one of his birthday cards I told him that on my next birthday I would be sixty-five. My step mother told me that he sort of shook his head and thought about it and then said, "You know Red's and old man!" My stepmother thought the comment hilarious and so did I. It must be hard for a man to watch his son grow to be old.

      All of these situations occur as time passes.  Our memory of the past dims and the situations we pass through modify our perception of our past. It's interesting to visit with my brother and compare the memories we have of the same things. We are less than a year apart so we were there for the same things. Sometimes we refresh each others memory of incidents we experienced.

       Alvin Toffler in Future Shock has an excellent section on time and how humans think about time. Toffler goes back and shows how we began measuring time which then posts landmarks in our lives. Toffler also dealt with our perception of time  and how it alters as we age.

      So these three situations just happened to come together and get me thinking about time. This coming from a guy who never wears a watch.

      How do you feel about the passage of time? Does it intrigue you? Does the passage of time make you feel happy or sad? I hope that everybody fully enjoys the passage of their life and the experiences they have.

6 comments:

  1. At almost 57 (and still raising children), I find that I'm not minding the passage of time so much. It's too quick for me; and there are those aches and pains that I now have to work to alleviate. The wrinkles and developing turkey wattle are not attractive. But in being forced to slow a little, to enjoy life while I can and to mellow out, I'm thinking that "they" are right: there's something good happening as I age.

    (Besides: the alternative to the passage of time is not a nice one!)

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  2. Time is strange, Red. Sometimes I think back and it seems like just yesterday that I was a teenager. And then the next moment it seems it was an eternity ago.

    Thanks for the link to my blog. I think of you as a good friend, even though we have never met in person, we know a lot about each other.

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  3. Thanks for visiting Hiawatha House and leaving a comment. You get an aterisk on my wall for being a first time commenter.I'm going to have to figure out how to put these asterisks on line!!!
    Some people age gracefully and some people struggle with aging. I'm with you . We might as well have fun along the way.

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  4. Yes time is strange. I think inside our heads we are always the same person. I don't regard myself as old. I think of myself as always the same???
    I'm not sure if there is a protocol for links. Does one ask permission??? Are there do's and don'ts?
    Part of your post fit in with what I was thinking so I thought I would use the example. Thanks.
    Have a great day!

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  5. The older my kids get, the faster time goes by! I seem to get less done in more time in the day.
    Just don't know.
    I've seen 96, my last hospice client passed over at age 90. It's not a happy time, in my estimation.
    I try to enjoy each day and to be proud of my achievements, however small.
    All the best.

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  6. Jenn I can admit to slowing down. I might not like it but I'll have to live with it. As my Dad told me when I turned 65, "You aint seen nuthin yet!"
    I still get my 1000km on the bike in for a summer. It just takes longer!

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