Marching Onward

The passing of time is a funny thing.  Time can’t be stopped, rewound or moved ahead. It can only be viewed from right in this moment from right where you are.  As the old saying goes, “time marches on” and all we can do is accept it whether we like it or not.  I suppose it’s all about perspective, so all I ask of precious time is that it doesn’t go so fast that I can’t stay in step and that I can march right along without too many rest breaks.  Oh, and maybe the marching can be done in a really pretty pair of mid-heel lace-up boots.  Oh and one more thing; not in the mud so my pretty boots don’t get dirty.  I will not march in dirty boots.  Do you hear that time?

Two days ago on December 4, this little baby girl turned 25.  How is this even possible?  I was just changing her diapers and driving her around trying to quiet her newborn colicky fussiness.  It was only yesterday that I was walking her into the first day of kindergarten and sighed as she stomped her feet at me ‘cause even way back then she wanted to be the boss.  She is now using her type A (sorry Legal Eagle) powers for good instead of evil and is, all on her own I might add, making her aspirations and goals come true.  Like running her first half-marathon Sunday on her birthday in the pouring rain and frigid temperatures.  In the wise words of Helen Reddy (memba her?), she is strong and she is invincible.  Don't worry - I'm not going to say "she is woman". 

When my children were in the baby/toddler stage, it was difficult to see past the bottles/diapers/sippy cup chapter we were in then.  It was as if that phase would last forever.  I would try to picture them at different ages and what they might look like as they grew, but the daydreaming usually came to a dead stop at high-school.  I suppose my mother’s heart would not let me envision her any older than that because that would mean she would no longer need me, not in the physical sense anyway.  But as brains tend to be more logical than hearts, I reasoned she would eventually have to grow up like it or not.

Lest you think me an ingrate, I’m truly thankful to God that she has grown into such a healthy and seemingly happy and well-adjusted person.  She is now making her way through each day without me which makes me happy and sad at the same time.  She now has her own lovey-dovey boy, home, and life so I guess we did our job.  

But when I watch her looking at me the same way I used to look at my mother as I became an adult, it’s weird.  I’m not sure how I feel about it.  But it doesn’t matter what I think, because time marches on and so does she.  The only difference now is that she will be “right-left-righting” it in a brand new pair of 4-inch nude-colored platform Vera Wangs instead of the little red Keds she used to wear.  Happy Birthday Legal Eagle.