Where Has The Time Gone?

Me and Santa…I was a believer for a long time!

Wasn’t it just last week that I believed in Santa, that Billy kissed me four times on each cheek for my eighth birthday, and that I first heard the words, “I love you” as my soon-to-be husband and I danced on the outside patio at Casa Loma?

Wasn’t it just yesterday that my first granddaughter, Laura was born and today she is fifteen? And, was it really her eleven-year-old sister who said, at nine years of age, “Where has the time gone” as she nostalgically remembered our home in London? Nine years old! Can you believe that?

Looking in a mirror only accentuates the passing of time, more so for some than others—particularly if six decades have passed since one’s birth! But it’s very thought provoking when our young seem to think time is passing too quickly.

This leaves me to ask the age-old question, Is the world spinning faster? Are the calendar months flipping at a greater speed? Does the sun drop faster in the west and rise earlier than the day before? Not really. Then, why is it that most people say, “Where has the time gone?” or “I can’t believe the summer’s over” or “It just seems like yesterday when…”?

Halfheartedly, we offer an explanation to the passing of time: we have busy lives, errands to run, homes to clean, children to drive to and from wherever. We work long hours and at the end of the day admit—with growing frustration—that there wasn’t enough time to complete our to-do list, let alone spend quality time with family or friends.

I once heard that life would be a lot better if we had eight days in our week. Really! Eight days? Eight days to say, “Where has the time gone” and complain that there still isn’t enough of it! A longer week would only offer more time for us to fill it with more work and less sleep. Sad, when I think of it, that we can’t seem to find…or maybe I should be saying make the time to do those things that bring pleasure to our lives. Like baking bread!

Why this ranting on about time? I know it’s not a new grievance; it’s just that I’m conscious of it passing more quickly than I have ever noticed before. Each night I lay my head on my pillow and promise myself that tomorrow I will bake bread, tomorrow I will go to the gym, tomorrow I will visit my sick friend. But when tomorrow comes, I’m either too busy, preoccupied with seemingly more urgent things and then, ultimately, too weary to follow through on any of my tomorrow I will promises.

Our granddaughter, Laura.

Is there a solution?

I ask that question with a smile, thinking of the famous words in an equally famous movie, Gone with the Wind. With the firmness of mind and spirit, Scarlet announces… and I believe provides hope for us all that “Tomorrow is another day.”

Well, tomorrow is here and I will keep some of my promises…I hope!

(Happy Birthday, Laura! Love you very much!)