Time Flies When You're Sixty

Think back to when you were a little kid, when Christmas trees were big, and your back yard was gigantic. Now think what it was like waiting for some special holiday, like your birthday, or Christmas. Remember how it seemed to take forever to get here? Then once it was past, it was almost a lifetime till it returned. Or remember summer vacations, which really did seem endless?

Well, how about now? Christmas will be here in about a month, but last Christmas really doesn't seem that long ago. And summers? To a working teacher, as I once was, they go by in a heartbeat.

Time definitely passes differently when you're older. Personally, I think it's a proportional type of thing. In other words, when you're six, it takes one sixth of your lifetime to become seven. And when you're sixty, it takes one sixth of your lifetime to become seventy. Since I'm 60, the next ten years of my life will seem as long to me, as one year did when I was six. A little scary I think.

OK, that's a pretty subjective thing, but I'm sure you get the idea. So we look at things differently from when we were younger. For instance, a girl in her twenties told me recently that she might change jobs “in eight or ten years.” Nobody in her sixties would make that statement. Because to someone in her twenties, she has her whole life ahead of her. And it seems to stretch out in front of her forever. So she can afford to take her time on things. I remember when I was twenty. Yes, I knew I would eventually get old and die, but it never concerned me, because it was SO far in the future, it was something I just didn’t have to think about.

But when you’re older, things are different. At least for me. While I don’t dwell on it, my own mortality is now something I understand. While I hopefully still have a lot of years ahead of me, I know it’s not forever.

Honestly, it’s something of a paradox. Since I’m retired, I have all kinds of time. As a recently retired friend of mine said a while back, “I have a lot to do today. But if I don’t get it done, I’ll do it tomorrow.” That was something we couldn’t say when we were working full time. So yeah, I can do things without hurrying them, because Monday is just like Sunday.

But in a larger sense, rather than slowing down, I’m in a hurry. I don’t think God is done with me yet, and I don’t want to just sorta fade away, at least not yet. So while I have lots of time in each week, I don’t have as much time in my lifetime. And I don’t want to waste it. So as each day goes by, I want to keep moving. If I’m going to start something that’s a big deal, I don’t want to think about it for a year or eight or ten. I want to get on it. Because I don’t know how much longer I have. And what I do have, I don’t want to waste.

The other thing I have noticed, is that I now never say things like “I can’t wait till such and such is over.” I used to say that about the school year, or the winter, or any number of other things. I just tried to wish all that time away. But as I get older, I value the time more. I'm not going to wish one second of it away.

 It’s too bad I had to get old to really appreciate the time I have.

Cam, Aaron, and Kids

I saw a video the other day about Cam Newton, the quarterback of the NFL Carolina Panthers. After he scored a touchdown recently, somehow a defensive player got the football. Cam asked for the football back. I couldn’t figure why he wanted the football, since he scores lots of touchdowns. Well, the defensive player was pretty pissed off, so he just threw the football the other way. Then, instead of arguing, Cam chased the football down, picked it up, ran over to the stands, and handed the football to some little kid. Cam didn’t want the football for himself; instead he wanted to give it away. And apparently, Cam always gives the football to some young fan in the stands. Pretty cool, actually.

Now, I have no idea if Cam is really a good guy or not. Maybe he just does that for show, but I’m guessing not. I think he realizes what a big deal it is for a kid to get a football. But he also knows it’s a lot cooler when he or she gets it from an NFL quarterback. Each kid who gets that will probably remember it for the rest of his life.

When I saw that, it made me remember an athlete I once knew, back almost twenty years ago. Aaron Lawniczak was one of the best athletes Eastwood High School ever had. But his life ended way too soon as he was tragically killed in an auto accident just a few days before he was to start college at BGSU. That was a tough one to take. Aaron was an amazing basketball player, and an even better baseball player. I remember the first time he pitched a game, as a freshman, he threw a no-hitter. And I remember him scoring over 30 points a game in basketball his senior year. He was about to enter BGSU on a full athletic scholarship when the accident happened.

But why did Cam remind me of Aaron? Because of a basketball game I went to during his senior year. At Eastwood, when the players are introduced, they run around the edge of the gym floor, slapping the hands of all the Eastwood students who come down to the floor. That night, most players ran through quickly, slapping lots of hands, then running back onto the court, eager to get the game started. But I watched Aaron, and he was different. Sure, he greeted all the students, but I could tell he was being especially careful to slap the hand of every little kid he could. It took him a little longer, but he made a lot of kids happy.

I was Aaron’s physics teacher, and I had a pretty good relationship with him. So I talked to Aaron in school a few days after the game, and I mentioned what he did. He said that yes, he did take time to do that. Because he realized that, while he was only a high school player, to those little kids, he was pretty famous. He knew they looked up to him, and he didn’t want to let them down. Now how cool was that? Aaron had all the skills that could have made him an arrogant jerk. But instead, he was humble and kind. Aaron knew he wasn’t really famous, but I was impressed that he understood that kids would look at him as a role model, and he took that role seriously. I was proud of him then, and all these years later, I still am.

So when I found out Cam Newton gives the football away as he does, I realized that is something Aaron would have done in the same situation. It made me sad to remember Aaron, but it also made me smile a little.

Maybe I’ll start rooting for the Panthers…at least a little.