by Stephen D. Wilson

Created on: June 09, 2008

What happened? I was walking down the street the other day with my brand new walk man cassette player and the latest Journey album pounding my ears. Today, I'm a father of two and have been married twice. WOW! That happened fast! When did the world make me an older person instead of a younger one? That's what time does to you, it fools you. I often look at my wife of 20 years and feel like we just started going out, then almost in the same instant I cannot remember a time when we weren't together. It wasn't too long ago when my kids were taking their first steps and learning how to talk, now they are adults starting to make lives of their own.

Time is a fleeting, never ending river that your life cannot help but continue on. Ancient societies have been buried by the sand many thousands of years ago, yet they bring us something new when they are excavated. Is time something that is up to interpretation or is it a matter of fact? Well, both actually. We try to capture time almost everyday. We take pictures, record the kids' baseball games with a new digital recorder, or read letters sent to us from a long day past. We try to keep time away for a little while, knowing full well we can't stop its passing.

It seems just the other day when I was reading about a new and remarkable invention, a personal computer. Before the 1980's computers were massive things that took up many floors in a large building, now they come as small as your hand (and do more than their older relatives). Time passes. 8 tracks faded away and were replaced by cassette tapes and reel to reel tape. Vinyl records are all but extinct now, having been replaced by CD's, MP3's and IPods, while their sound is better, they don't feel superior to my milk crate of pitted and scratched records. Television now has 300 plus channels of nothing to watch instead of 3 or, if you were very lucky, 4 channels.

Elections that were never decided until the next day, are now called long before the polls close. Newspapers were the primary way people got their information, now there are the internet and 24 hour news channels. Time goes on, unwavering, with no consideration on weather or not you are ready for it to pass.

Soon, all too soon, the baby takes his first steps, and then the next time you look, he's asking you for the keys to your car to take out his new girlfriend. Wasn't it just the other day when girls were ugly? Your daughter has gone from frilly white dresses and pigtails, to all too short skirts and now has a pierced belly button. All too soon you'll hug them one last time as they leave home for the first time, off to college or whatever life they have decided to build. Next thing you know, your beard is gray, and your hair is thin. Your once firm body has softened a bit, and your belly is a bit bigger.

You are listening to your favorite classic rock station and suddenly realize they now play Journey! Now, when did that happen? Their songs were just playing on the top 40 countdown, weren't they? You look in the mirror and see a familiar face, not the same one that you saw 20 years ago. You remember when you were 16 years old and thought 30 was ancient. Now as you've past that, you realize that 60 isn't old either, at least it doesn't seem that way.

Time passes. It chases tomorrow and never catches it. Time plays a never ending game of tag and makes all play, everyday without fail. Time passes. Gone are the big plans, now replaced with a new ache or a strong desire to take a nap. Yeah, time passes.

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