Then It Is Winter...

     You know, time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware of the passing years. It seems just yesterday that I was young, out of school and embarking on my new life. Yet in a way it seems like eons ago, and I wonder where all the years went. I know that I lived them all. I have memories of how it was back then and of all my hopes and dreams.

     But here is the winter of my life and it catches me by surprise. How did I get here so fast? Where did all the years go and my youth? I remember well seeing older people through the years and thinking that those older people were years away from me and that winter was so far off that I could not fathom it or even imagine fully what it might be like.

     Yet here it is. My friends are retired and getting grey; they move slower and I see older people now. Some are in better and some are in worse shape than me, but I see the great change. Not like the ones I remember who were young and vibrant, but like me their age is beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we used to see and never thought we'd be. Each day now I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day! And taking a nap is not a treat anymore, it's mandatory! Because if I don't take a nap of my own free will, I'll just fall asleep where I sit.

     So now I enter into this new season of my life unprepared for all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do things that I wish I had done but never did. At least I know that though the winter has come, and I'm not sure how long it will last, I do know that when it's over on this earth, it's over. A new adventure will have begun.

     I have no regrets. There are things I wish I hadn't done and things I should have done, but indeed there are many things I'm happy to have done. It's all in a lifetime.

     So, if you're not in your winter yet, let me remind you that it will be here sooner than you think. Whatever you would like to accomplish in your life, please get started. Don't put things off too long. Life goes by in the blink of an eye. So do what you can today, as you can never be sure if this is your last day or not. There is no promise that you will see all the seasons of your life. Live for today and say all the things that you want your loved ones to remember, and hope that they appreciate and love you for all the things that you have done for them.

     Remember that life is a gift. The way you live it is your gift to those who come after.


_______________ A Beautiful Requiem

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.

~Mary Frye~