Allow me to write a rambling stream of consciousness for a bit.. I think I know where I want this to go, but we’ll see where it leads..
It was the best of times.. it was the worst of times.
There was a family party today to celebrate a birthday, a graduation, and a young man becoming a Marine.
The world is filled with fires, feuds, and retaliation.
Egypt is in turmoil.
The Middle East always is..
Climate change is occurring..
Weather has always been extreme.
But today was one of those days where the trials and tribulations of reality took a back seat to family and kinship..
An interesting parallel existed in my mind’s eye as I watched my family … we’ve grown and aged. I did, too ..
I distinctly remember a moment in time, so long ago now last century, when a teenage me was walking my now deceased dog on Christmas Eve night.. a full moon was above, and my little nephew Shawn Jr. was by my side .. he followed me around in those times everywhere I went. He was a cute little skinny runt, probably around age 3 in my memory.. I recall fondly the cold air, the snow on the ground, and the magic of Christmas in our hearts as he chatted up a storm about what Santa Claus was going to bring for him.
This year, this day, my young son, now aged 2 and a half, was running after his family members one by one —chasing them around the house with a Superman watch that plays a few seconds of the theme song. The watch was a gift for his Uncle who celebrated a birthday today. But it didn’t fit Uncle Shawn, so Ayden now is wearing it for ‘special powers’… And I looked at my son, sweating and laughing in the 95 degree heat, and could not think back to that cold and snowy Christmas eve when my nephew was just his size..
My nephew is now a Marine..
My son has a future ahead of him.. As of today, he is Superman and he is knocking ‘bad guys’ down one by one…
A tale of two ages..
A sign of the times. Now the overall ‘world’ times.. but the localized times. You know, the ones that matter.
My sister made a comment today about how reality exists for us.. but everyone else has their own reality, their own story, and their own piece of the pie of existence. We only know what takes place on a daily basis for our own bodies and souls. We cannot understand or fathom what happens in the lives of others.
And with that said.. I can only remember what it was like to be ME at age 3, living in the mine fires of Centralia.. While I can try, I don’t really know what it was like to be my nephew patiently waiting the arrival of Santa somewhere in the mid 1990s.. and I can love and appreciate everything my son Ayden does, but only he will know what it was like to be AYDEN at his age, and any age..
Isn’t that interesting?
We can be connected to family.. but disconnected all the same…? Strange in a way..
And now a memory may exist for my son Ayden.. a memory in time.. Etched forever. When he looked up at saw his cousin come back from the Marine Corps, looking more than a tad bit different. I think Ayden met a new hero today.
But .. .that certainly didn’t stop him from using his special toddler powers and taking him down..
