Full Circle

When I was five I thought I’d live forever.

When I was five time was never ending.

When I was five I lived in a world where mom and dad, and grammy and pops were the constants of my universe.

When I was five the most serious illness that I had was the chicken pox.

When I was five I went to school and played with my friends.

When I was five I liked corn flakes for breakfast and red popsicles were a treat on a summers day.

When I was five summer was for skipping rope and riding bikes, and winter was for making angels in the snow.

When I was five grammy cleaned my face of crumbs by rubbing my face with spit on her thumb.

When I was five I’d curl up all nice and snug in my bed with my bear and get a good nights sleep.

When I was five there were kisses for boo boos and chocolate milk for tears.

When I was five I could catch polliwogs by myself in the stream in the woods.

I’m 57 now.

The world is a different place.

Grammy is gone, pops is gone, dad is in a nursing home and mom is alone.

I have a mortgage, I do the shopping I go to work.

My friends don’t come out to play as much anymore, they’ve got their kids, jobs, and spouses.

I know I won’t live forever, and time passes in the blink of an eye.

I also have to pay attention to things like weight, blood pressure and high cholesterol.

And I am aware of diseases more serious that chicken pox.

If things work out, aging is inevitable.

What you do with your time is up to you.

So at 57 I dance to the music that makes me happy.

At 57 I drink hearty red wines.

At 57 I laugh until it hurts.

At 57 I spend time with the people who mean the most to me.

At 57 I enjoy sumptuous meals.

At 57 I take walks along the sea shore.

At 57 I know I will not live forever in this body.

And at 57 I know that although time will one day cease to be, in the here and in the now, all is good.