The day had been humid, hot, and long. Warm skin tingled in the grasp of the cool night air. A million stars beckoned to my imagination. All senses acutely alive, I listened for the sounds of the night and heard the laughter of neighborhood youngsters; voices kindred to those of my children so many years ago.
For just a moment, I wished the nostalgic wish that occasionally crosses every grandma’s mind. I wished that I could go back in time and hear the youthful voices of my children and their friends one more time.
“More time,” I thought. “What would you do if you could have more time?” Of course, I don’t know. I can only hope that I would spend it more wisely than I did before. I hope that—
- I would spend more time provoking their laughter and less time stifling their tears;
- More time praising their virtues and less time picking at their faults;
- More time enjoying their present and less time fretting about their future.
For the truth is, we don’t get to keep them forever. In fact, sometimes we don’t get to keep them at all.
Loved the pointers here
Hey Jessi!
It’s great to see you here. Thanks for commenting. Your comment helped me find that that link at the end was broken!
Sometimes it’s hard not to get so caught up in picking at faults, fretting about futures, and stifling so many tears. Don’t be afraid to carve more time out for those things anyway….let a few more things go when they ‘really just don’t matter’, make them giggle as you wipe away tears, etc. Like you said, you can’t keep them forever…and you can’t create more time….so make the best of what you do have.