What A Thief Is Time

This is my husband and me in 1984. He was 26, I was 24. It was either right before or right after we were married.  (I can't see my hand well enough to tell if there is a ring.)

We were SO young.  We don't FEEL so OLD now, but we sure look it.  Still the same inside, except maybe a bit wiser, a bit more caring, but also a little more tired.

Time takes away so much, seemingly so slowly, but one day, you look up, and you're old.  Your knees creak and protest things you used to do without thought.  Your fingers are stiff and sore when you wake up, You realize that you have gained weight, lost hair, and have more, erm, character in your face.

Of course, if you have children, especially teenage children, you are probably reminded of this on a regular basis.  (We are fortunate, we do not own any offspring, having found it difficult to reproduce when we were on opposite sides of the planet for so much of the early years of our marriage.) We have had no one to tell us we were OLD even before we really were.
I don't really think of myself as old even now.  I mean, yeah, I was born when Eisenhower was still President, and I remember a time when broadcast was the only TV there was, and telephones were big, clunky, and wired into the wall.  (And all you could do on them was call somebody.) (Oh, and they had DIALS, not keypads.)
Despite all that, I try to keep up with technology, with some cultural trends, I try not to dress like somebody's grandma, 'cause I AIN'T anybody's grandma!  I try to get in better shape and stay that way.  Matt tries, too, but it's harder for him.  He's up on the technology and the culture, but he doesn't really spare much thought for fashion.
I don't have a current picture of the two of us that I really like.  None of the pictures we have are very flattering.  Even though we have "fallen apart" so to speak, we don't look as bad in reality as we do in some of the pictures.

Us in 2009

 The picture above is 5 years old, and I swear, I look younger now than I did then.  Matt looks about the same.

Our youth and appearance are not the only things time steals. It steals away those we love,  as well. 
Since the first picture was taken, we've lost both our dads, Matt's nephew, Matt's mom. my nephew, and a few friends.  I've lost two aunts and an uncle, and three cousins.
  If we are very careful, time can't steal away our loved ones completely.  We need to keep our memories stored away safely and look upon them often, remember the smiles and the laughter, and the times we cried together.  All of those things, the love shared, will keep our loved ones near.  
This time of year we are all somewhat obsessed with the passing of time.  We buy new calendars to keep track of our days, we make resolutions, we look back on the events of the last year, and the people we've lost in the last year. 
My friends will tell you that there are many clocks in our house.  Hard to find a place where you don't hear a clock ticking.  (I just happen to like clocks.)  There are also lots of calendars since I have discovered them to be a fairly cheap source of changeable art work.  Even with all of those reminders of fleeting time, I manage to waste a lot of it.  I get bogged down in minutiae, and miss enjoying some things.  (Especially if I don't make myself a list.)

We can't afford to lose sight of the important things in this life.  The people we love, the stories we tell each other, the stories of shared experiences, the in-jokes, the memories.  Store them up in your heart, where fire, flood, earthquake and tornadoes can't destroy them.  Pass the memories on to the next generation, so that they will remember those who came before with love, even the ones they never met.

One image from a movie that has always stuck with me is the close up of the sundial at Twelve Oaks in Gone With The Wind.  "Do not squander time, it is the stuff that life is made of."  That quote was engraved on the sundial.
I try to remember that when I find myself glued to my screen.  There's a world out here to enjoy.  If I don't spend time enjoying it, what'll I have to post about anyway? ;-)