When I was a little girl it was murder waiting for Christmas to finally roll back around. Time practically stood still! As an adult....'What?! Christmas is here again?!". What is it that makes time absolutely fly by now just because I am older? Is it because I don't value Christmas as much as I used to? Has the meaning of Christmas shifted from one of miracles and surprises to a chore that requires money and time?
My own daughter just turned sixteen. She is getting ready to go back to school in two weeks so we have been out shopping for all the necessary items a Junior in high school MUST have. She goes to boarding school in Pebble Beach, California so her needs are different than that of a kid that stays home. This issue of 'time' flying by keeps rearing its ugly head. It was only yesterday that she was just so small, cute and fun to dress. Now...she has her own sense of style and idea of 'correct fit'. When she came out of the dressing room....finally...time stood still again...like when I was a child waiting for Christmas. This child suddenly stood before me as a young woman. A mature young adult that hasn't made any mistakes yet. She is perfect right now. Straight A's, perfect weight, healthy skin and believes she can change the world and make it better by tomorrow. Her smile lights up the room and her hope for the future overflows her cup. I remember this point in my life and feel like from here on everything goes downhill. Disappointments and failures await in her future. How can they not? When you start out perfect there is nowhere to go but downhill. I want so badly to tell her that her youthful ideas have been tried before and...failed. Not to dash her hopes but to prevent her the pain of those hopes being stomped on ruthlessly. Yet....maybe....is there hope? Perhaps she WILL change the world. Maybe mortgages, taxes, insurance and personal relationships will be better handled by this new generation. Thank the heavens for the younger generations with their eternal happiness and optimism, for us older generations have grown very pessimistic and tired of fighting the 'system'.
