That things we cherish change or disappear

I was walking to my room tonight and the boy was playing on the Wii, and then he called for me. Sniffled. Got up and gave me a hug. He was not quite crying, but almost. I had no idea what had gotten him upset so as I hugged him I asked. He said, "things change. I'll have all these memories of things but the things will be gone. And one day I won't have memories. I won't have any of this." As a person who dwells and fears the passage of time for those very reasons, I had no idea what to say. I asked him why he was thinking about it, but he just said he was and that he was going to one day look back and miss his old house, his friends, his toys, everyone.

I know the feeling. I just hugged him for a while and said the best thing possible that I could think of, that we need to enjoy what we have when we have it (I really need to work on that), that when we leave some things behind, it makes room for new ones and sometimes better ones (need to work on remembering that too), and that we always have our memories. We can record them down if we are worried by taking photos or writing them down.

This all makes me wonder if maybe my folks went down memory lane in my old home town with him this weekend. Or if he heard them talking about our friend that is in the hospital. Not that it matters, because, well, its here now.

Its hard to face the passage of time. The loss of things of our youth. The loss of people in our lives. It just happens. We often have no choice in it. Its damn near impossible to think of consoling a child with those facts in your mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wash It Away

Head bowed down
Take a deep breath
As the water surrounds
Filling eardrums
With the sound of continuity
Peace enters in
Water on the face
Rinsing away the day
Refreshes in a way
That simple darkness
Can not