Time Flies

Sometimes I turned over!

When I was younger, I used to float on my raft in the pool lying on my stomach.  I would pretend that I had tanks on my back and I would  concentrate on filling the tanks with sunshine.  There was an invisible hose that attached to the tank and circled my waist.  There was an invisible button that inserted into my navel.  On the coldest, darkest days of winter, I could mentally push that button and send soothing rays of sunshine through my body - to my heart and to the very center of my soul.

I have not done that in recent years.  I do not know why.  I remember doing it. I remember that I truly enjoyed it in the moment and there were some dreary days that I resorted to pushing that invisible button.   I think about those days sometimes.  I frequently have shared that strategy with friends as a coping mechanism of getting through dark days- but I have not actually done it.  Recently, I have wondered if I do not do it because I am too busy to do it or if I am less busy and therefore no longer need to do it.   Which comes first - the chicken or the egg?

Mana the Beautiful

One reason for my thinking about this has clearly been the Thankful Project that went around on FaceBook for the month of November.  I simply could not come up with a daily list of the things that I am thankful for. There  are SO many, and this retirement thing has clearly messed up my schedule and my organizational skills.  :) Early on, as I read the journal entries of others, I decided that I would attempt a blog.  Easier said than done!

Another cause for my reflection on this has been a book.  I have noticed this before, but it has popped into my mind again..books are often triggers for my reflection.  Years ago, I was doing some adjunct work for the College of Saint Joseph the Holy Provider and the American Institute for Creative Education.  I would have the pleasure of traveling around to a number of schools working with teachers on implementing high quality literature in their classrooms.  I used books to demonstrate the various levels of what I - in my youthful wisdom -thought to be good or not so good.  There  was a book that I made mockery of.  It was titled "I'll Love You Forever".  Have you read it?  I would pull that book apart from cover to cover, making fun of the incidents that took place in the story.  I remember being in Bedford, New Hampshire.  I remember it for several reasons.  The college put me up at the Bedford Inn.  It was gorgeous.  I broke the bathtub and I fell out of the bed.  I had forgotten how high it was off the floor and that there was actually a footstool to help you get in.  I am sure that the people in the room below me thought that there was an earthquake.  However, that is not what I remember the most.

I remember starting to read the book aloud in front of a fairly large group of teachers and suddenly starting to sob.  My oldest child had left for his first year of college, and suddenly, I saw that book in a very different light.  It made for a great discussion, but it left me red faced and humbled.  I have been reminded many times over the years that books can have a different impact on you,depending on where you are within your life when you read them.

Dad and Kate

After I retired, I read some great books.  Not challenging,  just light and entertaining.  after David retired, we packed up and took off to see all of our children in three different installments.  (Those visits may have been the primary trigger for this sense of reflective thankfulness on my part.)  I brought a variety of books with me.  I chose a small book for the plane.  "The Time Keeper".  It is written by Mitch Albom and I have read and loved many of his books.  Somehow, I just could not get into the book...it seemed absurd.

I picked it up again, towards the end of our trip and suddenly, it had my attention.  On the third try, a sentence grabbed me.  "Try to imagine a life without timekeeping."  It went on to say that it would be practically impossible for us to do that.  We are the only creatures who measure time.  Therefore, we alone experience the fear of time running out.

Time is such an overused word and the author focuses on it.    'Waste time, pass time, kill time.'You have heard them all before as well as many others.  Albom says:  "There are as many expressions using the word time as there are minutes in a day...but once there was no word for it, because no one was counting."


One of the dialogue statements that caught my attention was:  "Before you measure the years, you measure the days.  I have often heard it said that time flies.  I have said it myself.  I have often shared the conversation I had with my educational mentor, Howard Smith.  Without  a doubt he is one of the smartest people I have ever had the honor of working with and I had always considered him to be one of the smartest people in the world.  On one particular day, I mentioned to him that I was amazed at how fast the school year was going.  Keep in mind, this was many moons ago - more than 30 years.  Howard smiled and told me that I would learn that as I got older, time would go faster.  I smiled and thought that perhaps he was not so smart after all.  24 hours is 24 hours, regardless of your age.  Once again, Howard was right!


As time has gone on, I have noticed that years have been measured by big events - marriages, births, illnesses, deaths - significant instances that make your heart stop beating and fill your heart and soul with happiness, love, fear, anger, joy.  Memorable events.  Significant events.

Mike, Mayumi, Louis, Mana, Mom and Dad

The days go by so fast - do I forget to notice that they are important?  Do I forget that without the days, there are no years?  Do I forget to stop and smell the roses?

We walked by these roses every day in Yokohama and I am happy to say that I stopped every day to look at them.  David - did not appreciate it.

John, Emily, and Mom and Dad

I must not forget to celebrate the small events.  Are they any less memorable or significant than the smaller ones?  Vacations are one example of this.  In the old days, when I was lucky enough to be able to go somewhere, I would savor those memories for weeks. On any given day, I would stop and think: ' A week ago today, I was....'. Over the years, perhaps I have begun to take too much for granted - and that is the reason that I have stopped doing some of the things that used to bring me peace and comfort.  Perhaps time is passing so quickly, that I do not consciously celebrate those special moments.  The pace of life is so fast!  I was recently in the office of a colleague and I noticed the following sign:  "REST!  There is more to life than increasing speed.  (Mohandas K. Ghadhi). Is that why I no longer stop to think about filling my tanks?  Am I not stopping to REST?

Grandma sure does love those Japanese Baths!

Every time  I find myself reading a book that really has my attention, I come to a line or a passage and I think that I could have written that.  In The Timekeeper, it was the part about filling holes.  Grace was the wife of one of the three main characters in the book.  He was extremely wealthy and wanted to make life as easy as possible for his wife.  He would be very annoyed when Grace would do her own shopping.  He felt that to be a menial task that could be performed by one of the servants.  Grace realized that she did the shopping to fill the holes in her life.  I have said that so many times.  As my children grew and flew, I filled those holes with work. 

--> It may not have been the same type of “filling”, but the holes were unfilled.  Now I find myself creating new fillings for the newly created holes.  I could play Grace should the book ever be made into a movie.

Grandma sure does Lake Willoughby

As I finish reflecting, I will turn,to one more quote from The Timekeeper.  "It is never too late or too soon.  It is when it is supposed to be.  --> We mark the minutes that we use, but do we use them wisely.  Wisely – to be still, to cherish, to be grateful, to lift, and to be lifted.  There is a strategy that teachers use to help students remember things.  It is called ‘The Most Important Thing’.  I am going to model it as a closure for this reflection.  As I reflected on how I spend my time, I learned three things.  I learned that I sometimes do very silly things.  I learned that I truly am very thankful for all the good things that make up my life.  But the most important thing that I learned is that I need to spend my time wisely and use it well.

Grandma sure does Louis!  How much does she love Louis?

Time to go.