Thank you Emma and Ben

I don’t know if time goes quicker as we get older. It definitely feels that way. It could be because our days are so dictated by meetings and appointments and deadlines that time flies.

Growing up I remember a day lasting weeks. A minute was an hour and a week was a lifetime. Waiting for a birthday took forever and it felt as though Santa Clause had literally traversed the globe to deliver his gifts.

But now. Now time flies. Emma is going to be four soon. Ben is almost six months. I’m another year closer to fifty, an age that seemed ancient when I was ten. I’m one more summer, spring, winter and autumn closer to losing a parent.

I look over my shoulder and there in the past, I see a few regrets and sadness. There’s those ‘shoulda woulda coulda’ moments and the what if’s and the if only’s. I think about decisions made and opportunities not taken. I stand on my tiptoes to peek into the future and have an idea of what’s to come. The  uncertainty, the hopes and dreams.

But I can’t dwell on time gone by or what’s still to come because Emma and Ben keep me in the now. That’s what our children give us, besides the squishy kisses and the impromptu hugs. Other than the hilarious comments and stories, the crazy dances and sweet smells. That smile or a giggle or a gurgle of delight and a sigh of contentment from a child. Our children have a way of keeping us in the moment.

We give them the gift of life but they give us so much more. They give us this moment. With Ben and Emma I can forget my past and not worry about my future. Because of them I get to live in the moment, enjoying it for all that it’s worth