Time of Year

Maybe it's the time of year - days are getting shorter. Lack of sunlight. Maybe it's the events that surround me. I don't know. It just seems to be a depressing time of year to me. It always has been. It doesn't help when you hear of a twelve year old boy passing away. It's a parent's worst fear. You look at your children and they are full of life. They are invinsible. It is you that struggles with father time. It is easy to get caught in the complacency of day to day. Slight ups and downs in the big picture but stable none the less. You realize how quickly your world can be rocked. You realize how fragile life is. You realize nothing is to be taken for granted. The sleepless nights, the whining, you wouldn't trade it. Because even at these moments, life abounds and gives joy. Joy in a little girl girating her hips to her own dance as she watches Dancing with the Stars with you. Joy in a little girl wrapped in fabric in eager anticipation of making her mermaid costume. Joy in a sick little boys face because he sees you coming down the stairs. Joy and relief in a wife's face to see her husband come down the stairs. It is the day when someone does not come down the stairs that we do not ever want to experience.