Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The days are long, but the years are short

Time is a funny thing. In actuality time is constant. It moves in one direction, and always at the same pace. (No heckling from the quantum mechanics gallery, please.)

The measurement of time here on Earth is constant too, with just a few exceptions. Every day has 24 hours (give or take a few microseconds), every year has 365 days (unless it is one of those pesky leap years). But a human being's perception of the passage of time depends on their age, what they are doing, and the direction in which they are looking.
 
Consider a student starting their first day of a new school year. To them, the last few months seemed to go by in seconds, and the next nine months is an eternity.
 
Remember...to a one-year-old, one year is an entire lifetime!
 
Like most work days, I've got a general idea what is ahead of me...a few meetings, some housework, maybe running errands during my lunch break. My day will seem to go by either quickly or slowly depending on the type of work I'm doing, and how much I happen to be enjoying it.
 
But always in my mind today will be Daniel, and the day our life together ended ten years ago.
 
Actually, I don't think about that day much anymore...just when the date on the calendar reminds me. For those of you who don't know the story, I wrote about it here in 2004.
 
The first week after he died was an eternity, but the ten years since then have gone by in a flash. Daniel's dad has passed away. I am still extremely close to my "Michigan family". And I'm still living one long day at a time.

And that's the way it is supposed to be.

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