This past week I held the face of time, faced time as it passed and even made a face when time ran out, and I dit-ten say, “I’ll be there in a minute ~ I’ll do it later ~ “I’ll get to it,”  not even once, because I knew how precious each moment was.

I think those of us past the casual generation who can readily admit how long summer vacation used to be, the time from school to Christmas was an eternity, and the days to  graduation seemed as never ending as those pages on seaweed in Moby Dick – a lifetime. However, unlike the symbolic ending of Moby Dick, not many of us stand on a wood coffin, destined to survive life on the wings of death, and realize time is not on our side, as we become lost rolling stones, collecting no moss. The race to the end is getting closer every day.

Months ago, I prepared for a family visit, albeit one too short, but one that would hold the little DNA bands of genetic material we have left together, and remind us we are still alive – even if there wasn’t a trip to Dairy Queen involved. As the days passed, I realized too soon I would be there, and then I was, and then I was back – already now it is going on three days home.  I can however, still feel the tears, savor the tacos and salsa, and feel the cool breeze in the morning.  What happened?

Life Happened.

Maybe some people out there have discovered a way to live the poetic 100 years, taking in everything possible, loving like there is no tomorrow and collecting each memory like rose petals after a wedding. However, most of us scarcely have time to complete a full day before realizing what was left out, uncollected, unlearned and all too often unloved and unappreciated. Then it is night and another day peeks on the horizon of the sky and on our mortality.

True, working to survive is a reality that is hard to get around, but doing it with those we love around us can have a spiritual, if not just comforting effect, which will affect all we do.  Looking into the eyes of faces that care, truly love you and want you to be in their lives sharing and discovering is what life is all about, and it’s about time we take a minute to remember that. There is no gold watch at the end of our life thanking us for our support – no Bartles and James either sadly. There is no letter of appreciation for all we have done to help strangers meet their bottom line of profits – there is just a hallway, where we Taxi away to the last days of our life, and even Mr. Walter’s isn’t saying good-night. It is the end after all.

Saying you did not accomplish a bucket list because there was not enough time is wrong on every level – time won’t wait, so waiting for something to happen in your life  is a waste of time. Make your life an unfilmed reality show and think outside the bucket of conformity, making those around you the shining stars of your unscripted adventures.  There is no better time than the present to realize how short life is, how each hour and day pass faster than we will admit or recognize – just ask yourself how fast this week went in general or the month for that matter, which is already into the second week.

Because after all, when it is all said and done, no one wants those we loved to sit in a memorial with sadness at dreams that were never realized or tried by either of us  saying, “No she dit-ten.”