The Passage of Time

The entity with which I am currently wrestling is the passage of time.

• I would swear that I just graduated from college, but then my sister would not have yet married her husband or borne any of her three beautiful children, one of which will be graduating high school, this year.
• It seems like the last time I visited my parents, my mom was cleaning her sewing room so that she could make a “daddy doll” for a little girl whose father was in Afghanistan. My dad could always be found either tinkering in the garage, or adding on to the wonderland they built in the backyard for the grandkids.
• But I visited them last Sunday, and neither can drive anymore, and both need help walking.
• My mom is on constant oxygen.
• I looked at coffins yesterday.
• How did this happen so fast?
• I used to travel. I took a train from Frankfurt, Germany to Florence, Italy. We walked everywhere! In the heat and humidity! Now, walking to the mailbox is painful (we have a community mailbox, so it’s about a tenth of a mile to ours).
• Of my sweet precious babies, Opie, Chunk, and Despereaux, Opie is the only one left, and he’s showing his age, too.