Life's fleeting moments

Yesterday as I sat in the waiting area of the local health clinic, waiting to be diagnosed with an ear infection, I struck up a conversation with an attractive young lady named Emma. All smiles and blond curls, Emma told me of her love of Ethan; her classmate at preschool. She went on to explain that she would someday marry Ethan, and they would be in love like Ariel and Prince Eric in the "Little Mermaid."

Emma told me that she wanted a dog, but for now she'd be happy with her Guinea pig, even though her other guinea pig, Pokey had died recently. Emma, with her heart-breaking beauty and her childlike innocence, touched something in me...a longing for that sense of wonder that children have and seek to discard so quickly. Someday Emma may marry Ethan and have a dog, but I'm afraid that someday will arrive oh so fast. Such are life's fleeting moments.

Today Luke, our eleven-year-old Yellow Lab, missed a step as he was climbing them. Since he's old, I'm always right by his side on the stairs. I held him as he trembled and whimpered and remembered him being scared one other time when he was a puppy and he didn't want to sleep in his kennel all alone. I held him then, while he whimpered and trembled and he fell asleep in my arms as I sat in a recliner in the living room.

I fell asleep with him like that and when I awoke, was startled to find that he had vanished from my lap. A frantic search for him around the house yielded nothing, much less a tubby little yellow lab puppy. And then I spied him...asleep in a pile of freshly washed sheets in a laundry basket near the stairs. The same stairs I had to help him up today.

This morning in church as we stood singing songs of praise, I put my arm around my oldest son, Dustin as we sang together. Dustin, who is as now as tall as me, will always be my little boy. This boy with whom I dislocated my shoulder while swinging him around in the yard; this boy, who played for hours with his dozens of STAR WARS action figures. This boy, who argued with his preschool teachers about the correct pronunciation of Parasaurolophus and other favorite dinosaurs, drove home from the gas station today and needed little advice from his Father on how to do so correctly.

During our Easter dinner today, my nine-year-old son, Jared asked if he could propose a toast. Jared, who is all fidgety noisiness on most occasions, then gave a heartfelt thanks to his family, who he said he loved very much, and proceeded to get choked up while declaring his feelings.
Somewhere within that child, is a soft heart and a sensitive soul.

Later, as we watched "Marley and Me" for a second time this week, he broke down and sobbed as he hugged his dog, Socks. "Why does time have to go so fast?" He cried. These are life's fleeting moments. In what will seem like only minutes, the years will pass, and I'll look back on this weekend and wonder where the time went.

I hope that Emma and Ethan do become a Prince and a Princess and share an undying love, I do wish that Luke could be that puppy again and that I could hold onto him forever. I do pray that Dustin will always sing God's praises and will continue to drive safely (and slowly) for many, many years. I continue to pray that Jared will always be as caring and loving as he is right now, even if it's hard to see through the frantic persona that he often projects.

As I hugged my Wife, Sherry today and professed my love for her, I could see us together in the future, celebrating another Happy Easter Sunday. We should always hold onto each other and to all of life's fleeting moments.


David