I drove by myself the other night. A former me.
I was pulling into a parking lot on my way to meet a friend when I passed by this guy -- long hair in a ponytail, a well- (perhaps over) worn tank top, comfortable shorts, and bare feet. There was a sort of 'lazy overweight' look to him. Maybe he worked in a cubicle, squeezed in meals between meetings. Maybe he doesn't get much time to work out anymore, or simply can't find the energy. Maybe his weekends had become more about football and beer on the couch than hanging out with friends. These things happen. It's not the end of the world.
He was folding a baby stroller down to put it in the back of his car and there was a single white towel draped over his shoulder -- the way a new parent always wears it.
For every similarity that I found intruiging, there were a handful of differences (he wore glasses, his hair was lighter and not thinning, etc.) that kept it from being any kind of Twilight Zone moment. But for some reason, the image of that towel stuck with me. I don't know -- it's such a simple thing, and yet there are so many memories and moments wrapped up inside of it. Your kids are only ever that age once. When you're trying to raise and protect them at that time, the days and nights seem to go on forever. You wonder if there will ever be a time when you won't be folding carriages or mixing formula or waking up to see why they are crying in the middle of the night.
And yet no matter what else happened, no matter what new challenge or crisis arose, the most important thing always stayed the same - knowing that the child would only truly fall asleep sleep when you were holding them close, rocking slowly with your hand on the back of their head and a single white towel draped over your shoulder.
There are some things in life that you can't get back.
There are things you can't appreciate until they're gone.
I was pulling into a parking lot on my way to meet a friend when I passed by this guy -- long hair in a ponytail, a well- (perhaps over) worn tank top, comfortable shorts, and bare feet. There was a sort of 'lazy overweight' look to him. Maybe he worked in a cubicle, squeezed in meals between meetings. Maybe he doesn't get much time to work out anymore, or simply can't find the energy. Maybe his weekends had become more about football and beer on the couch than hanging out with friends. These things happen. It's not the end of the world.
He was folding a baby stroller down to put it in the back of his car and there was a single white towel draped over his shoulder -- the way a new parent always wears it.
For every similarity that I found intruiging, there were a handful of differences (he wore glasses, his hair was lighter and not thinning, etc.) that kept it from being any kind of Twilight Zone moment. But for some reason, the image of that towel stuck with me. I don't know -- it's such a simple thing, and yet there are so many memories and moments wrapped up inside of it. Your kids are only ever that age once. When you're trying to raise and protect them at that time, the days and nights seem to go on forever. You wonder if there will ever be a time when you won't be folding carriages or mixing formula or waking up to see why they are crying in the middle of the night.
But it does end.There are memories that can never be taken away, but little kids have a way of making you forget what it was like day in and day out when they were infants. The feeling of constant tiredness, the quicksnap fights that would erupt when the balance became uneven between a husband and a wife, the way that those fights could instantly melt away and be forgotten. You could be a villian with a TV remote and a hero with a mug of hot tea all in the same day.And when it's over, it feels
like it only lasted a second.
And yet no matter what else happened, no matter what new challenge or crisis arose, the most important thing always stayed the same - knowing that the child would only truly fall asleep sleep when you were holding them close, rocking slowly with your hand on the back of their head and a single white towel draped over your shoulder.
There are some things in life that you can't get back.
There are things you can't appreciate until they're gone.
These things happen.
It's not the end of the world.
[Listening to: 30 Seconds to Mars, "Savior"]
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