This past weekend, I found myself surrounded by family and loved ones – spending time together; celebrating my son who is the newest member of our family.
There were countless moments of reflection where we all spoke about ‘back then’.
Back then, when I was younger [seeing me grow]
Back then, when they were younger [realizing their own growth and life changes]
And now, how things have turned out [‘Look at us all now”].
It made me think of all of the moments where we may, only in retrospection, realize was the last time it was ever going to be that way.
I came across several blog posts that speak to this notion – I knew I would find some good ones – I stole some of these to share:
- The last time you would see your friends in class.
- The last time you would log into a messenger, via dial-up internet, and wait in suspense to see who else shows up online on a school night evening.
- The last time your family would ever live under the same household.
- The last time you would ever walk into a movie rental store and wander the ‘new releases’ and the excitement of finding something new.
I think the feeling of something ending is a profound one and one we don’t necessarily have a good sense to detect – unless the circumstances are obvious and in the forefront.
- A break up.
- The sale of your car.
- The last day at a job.
I think the punchline is, there are so many moments and dynamics in our lives that will never come back and you may be in the midst of the last time it will ever be this way.
And as chaotic as a traffic jam on a Friday night looks from the ground in New York City, the flyover of that same moment is ‘the view’ everyone is bidding to have.
Distance fosters the potential of gratitude. – Ramneek M.
If only we were more mindful of creating distance in our lives, before things truly came to an end.
We may find ourselves love a little more.
We may find ourselves hold each other a little closer.
We just may have the courage to be as we would have hoped, looking back.
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