Time seems to be a man-made concept created to give our lives some sort of logical order. Our existence in this time-like environment is similar to a blip on a radar screen, but a glorious one, at that. I have thought a great deal about time this past year. Too many deaths; some expected and some sudden. Most passings are of the older crowd, but a few are far too young to have occurred, but they did.

This is not a morbid post even though I speak of death. No pun intended, but death is a fact of this life. What we accomplish and who we become, between birth and death, is deemed by many as a way to define us. We may become financially successful, intellectually and/or academically prominent, creative beyond our wildest imaginations, philanthropic to an excess we can’t comprehend, athletically superb, or simply average (as are most of us). But what of our very essence; the most significant aspect of who and what we really are – our souls?

Today is my dad’s birthday. He would have been one hundred years old had he lived past his sixtieth birthday. I was a young man when he died. I have outlived him in years, yet memories abound even though I spent less than a third of my time with dad while he was alive. Time…what does it really mean?

Recently, I watched a documentary called Blue Zones which is about Centenarians. The researcher identified half a dozen areas around the world where the populations lived well past their mid-nineties and had above average health. It was insightful to learn what dynamics shaped their longevity and good quality of life, and I came away realizing that I can put into practice much of what I learned. However, my goal is quality over longevity, but to have both could be a bonus.

Several songs about Time have been playing in my head: Time by Pink Floyd is probably the most notable song about this concept. Jim Croce’s Time in a Bottle is beautiful. Another rock song is Fly Like and Eagle by The Steve Miller band where Steve sings about time slipping away. Then, there is this Alan Jackson song which melts my heart when I hear it, and as I sing along with Alan, who wrote it. Rather than sing it, I chose to list the lyrics below. I hope it causes you to reconsider Time. Enjoy!

Remember when I was young and so were you. And time stood still and love was all we knew. You were the first, so was I. We made love and then you cried. Remember when.

Remember when we vowed the vows and walked the walk. Gave our hearts, made the start and it was hard. We lived and learned, life threw curves. There was joy, there was hurt. Remember when.

Remember when old ones died and new were born. And life was changed, disassembled, rearranged. We came together, fell apart, and broke each other’s hearts. Remember when.

Remember when the sound of little feet was the music we danced to week to week. Brought back the love, we found trust. Vowed we’d never give it up. Remember when.

Remember when thirty seemed so old. Now lookin’ back, it’s just a steppin’ stone. To where we are, where we’ve been. Said we’d do it all again. Remember when.

Remember when we said when we turned gray. When the children grow up and move away. We won’t be sad, we’ll be glad. For all the life we’ve had. And we’ll remember when.

For Cheryl