This morning on my drive to work, I noticed the clouds moving swiftly across the sky. Whenever I see them moving faster than usual, I'm reminded of lazy summer afternoons laying on our trampoline in the backyard. We don't have that trampoline anymore. Or the swing set. Or the sandbox. Or soon, the pool. We just got rid of our Regal boat. And before that, we had this mustard yellow boat that, at the time I hated, but now I look back on fondly. I've lost a number of pets over the years- Poncho, Bear, Grizzly, Tank and Cabbie. Oh, and multiple turtles named Woody. It's my Uncle Mik's birthday today. I was already thinking about him because of all the City Museum/Bob Cassilly news, and now, thinking about how time has passed and things have changed, I started thinking about him even more.
As I sat at that stoplight starring up at the passing clouds, thinking about all this, I suddenly felt very old. It reminded me of how my parents always talk about the good ole days. The toys they had. The pets. The friends. The old stories of a world so far off from mine.
I thought I knew my world. As a kid, I guess you think it will never change. But we don't have the trampoline anymore or the grey couch in the living room or our Regal that I loved so much. I just realized that life is passing me by. Not in a bad way, like I'm missing it or something. I'm living. Heck, I just blew my savings on a plane ticket to Rome in January. I'm definitely living. But life is flying by me.
I used to say that soon I would be like my parents, reminiscing about the good ole days. And this morning, I realized I already am.
