Letter to Time

Dear passing Time,

I know I cannot stand in your way, and the more one tries to resist you, the more precious you become. But I am not writing to you now because I resent you for that, or because I do not understand how you work. Not because of the wrinkles you’ve left behind, etched on me by the days of my life spent with you.

I simply want to thank you for everything you have taught me:
Patience, when it goes most against my nature, yet with you I learned when to let my demons out and when to keep them on a leash.

Clear-sightedness, when only a frozen instant is enough for me to glimpse the future memories I will one day, in old age—when the two of us are truly good friends—call back to mind:

Rú’s smile at a shared joke, still only alive in his eyes.
That moment when we are thinking the same thing and our eyes meet.
That smile that has already been born, but has not yet reached his mouth.

Laci’s face when he grows deep in thought, which is still only his for now, but I know he will share it with me in the next moment.

Wolfie’s profoundly deep gaze when he is in my arms and looking into my eyes. I know he is reading me and enjoying what he sees.

Peace, which I always searched for and eventually took root in the family.

The ability to value unrepeatable days. And finally to enjoy the fact that every single morning gives me one that will be unique, just like every one that came before it and every one that will follow.

Pride, that I can be who I am now. I could only get here through you, and through all the good and bad experiences you have given me.

So thank you for teaching me all this. For showing me the beautiful face of impermanence, which made it lovable instead of frightening. For helping me realize how precious every moment is in which I can be present—and who and what make it precious. ♥