Time

 Grow up. Grow up. Grow up. That’s all we wanted to do when we were younger. We wanted to go out into the world on our own. We didn’t want to listen to our parents, teachers, or any other adult we came across. We wanted to make our own rules. We thought we were ready for it all.

Bills. Work. Groceries. It all crept on us so quickly we barely had time to prepare. They tried to tell us, but we never listened. I think that’s because we thought we still had forever left. We thought a few years meant a lifetime, but we blinked and it was no longer years away- it was now.

Grow up. Grow up. Grow up. That’s all we wanted to do when we were younger. We put on a facade at school and we definitely never wanted to be seen hanging out with our parents. We didn’t want to seem uncool to the kids whose names we wouldn’t even remember later on in life.

Heartbreak. Hormones. Insecurities. We weren’t prepared for the sudden changes to our body and mind. It was scary and sudden. We took advantage of not knowing what a heart breaking felt like. We were taught that drugs will hurt you, but never about first loves; never about the boy or girl who is going to give you the first feeling of being in love, but then ripping it away from you when you aren’t ready to let go yet. The kids we used to play with on the playground during recess; some of them turn mean. They make you feel like you don’t belong or that you aren’t good enough. We wanted to graduate and get away from the heartbreaks, bullies, and the classes that seemed to drone on and on every week.

Grow up. Grow up. Grow up. That’s all we wanted to do when we were younger. We graduate high school and for a brief moment- we’re free. We walk across the stage and grab the piece of paper that tells us we made it. We say goodbye to our friends and we shed some tears, but we are finally free. The heartbreaks, the bullies, the boring classes- it all seems so small now.

College. Work. Money. We thought we were free, but now it feels like we are stuck again. We had gotten away from the classes and stress, but now it has us in its grasp again. We have to graduate to get a good job, so we can afford gas, groceries, and rent. We reminisce about being a kid again without the worries, but then we wouldn’t have the freedom we always longed for when we were younger. We long to graduate college and get a good job, so we can be financially stable and secure.

Slow down. Slow down. Slow down.  That’s all we are going to say when we get older. Life is going to start moving so fast. We are going to want to make time stop even if it is just for a brief moment. We will long for the days when high school problems seemed like the biggest issue in the world; like your whole life is going to end based off of one grade or one person not liking you.

Marriage. Kids. House. We’ll finally have the life we dreamed of for so long. We’ll find someone who loves with everything in their body and soul; the kind of love you never knew you could obtain. They will make the past loves seem inconsequential and hazy. We’ll buy a house with them. We’ll decorate it for the holidays and it will always smell warm and sweet. We’ll have children with them and we’ll watch them grow into mini versions of ourselves. We’ll pray and long for time to slow down; for the world to stop spinning for one second.

Slow down. Slow down. Slow down. We’ll be getting older and our children will be getting older. There won’t be anything we can do to stop it. Our kids will be in high school. They’ll come home upset one day about someone making them feel not good enough or someone breaking their heart. You’ll have to reassure them it will be okay eventually, but you’ll know they won’t believe it, just like we didn’t when our parents said it to us.

Slow down. Slow down. Slow down. You will blink and your kids will be graduating. You will long for when they were still babies and you would do it all again- snotty noses, drool all over your shirt, having to get up at 4 am to console them. You will long for the days when they were still kids- tracking in mud after playing outside for hours, endless sports games, and the refusal to eat vegetables. You will even long for the early teenage years- attitudes and hormones. You will want to turn back the clock and appreciate each detail more, but you can’t.

Your babies will have babies and your hair will be grey. You’ll tell your grandchildren stories about back then. You’ll tell them about when you were their age and they will laugh, because their tiny minds can’t comprehend the quickness of time; how life passes in a blink of an eye. It doesn’t cross their mind yet that they will get older one day too. You’ll pray they always will have that mindset. You’ll pray they soak up every moment of being young.

Grow up. Grow up. Grow up. That’s what we said when were young. We wanted to be free and away from all the responsibilities of being young. We thought a lifetime was going to last forever, but we got older and realized a lifetime is not enough. We will want to turn back the clock and relive every moment we ever took advantage of, but it will be too late.

Slow down. Slow down. Slow down. That’s what we said when we got older. We realize life is precious, no matter what stage you are at. We’ll look around to our babies, who are now grown with their own families and we will look to their babies, our precious grandchildren. We’ll be frail and grey. We’ll tell them all to not let life pass you by. We will tell them it goes by so much quicker than you think- to enjoy every single moment possible, and then we will close our eyes and…

 The End.