Time: Indifferent Mistress

Something charming happened to me today. Charming in this sense. I am watching young people around me grow up, fast. For the first time today, it didn't make me feel old. It made me remember being young. Those days didn't seem so far away instead of ages ago.

A young man, who was one of my favorite Euchre players accepted my invitation on Facebook. He was a shining star, with big dimples and bright blue eyes. I met him when he was 14 and I was the youth director at our then church. Today he's a young college student filled with life. I looked into his posted pictures and smiled remembering a conversation that seemed ages ago.

"I will never party or get drunk, Mrs. Fresh."

"Yes, sweet boy, you will. But when you're 21, I'll go have a beer with you and we'll talk about it."

"You kill brain cells when you do that."

"Yes, you do, but if I hadn't killed a few brain cells in my day, I'd be a nuclear physicist, not your youth director, so I guess it worked out for the best."

Maybe he doesn't know how much I enjoyed watching him grow up. Maybe I didn't either. I just know that today, I smiled when I saw that he was indeed growing up.

As another memory overlapped. My then 5 year old daughter watched the same young man flip a guitar pick for a church scavenger hunt, which she saved and cherished. As you know, she is a rocker girl today, loving her guitar lessons. I'm sure this small gesture was nothing more than being cool on his part, but it impacted her life tremendously. Who knew the flick of a guitar pick by this cool high school kid would shape her wishes today? As every memory swirls I know that time marches forward... indifferent to us.

My other daughter, who is now 13, came home yesterday, blushing. A boy she likes hugged her. Three times. As she shared the story, my heart warmed and my mom side thought cautiously, thank god we didn't let her wear that short dress to school.

Time is indifferent. It moves forward whether we want it to or not.