The Passing of Time

My son turned six last week.  While we were celebrating his birthday morning with blueberry pancakes and presents, he opened a pair of soccer socks with the logo of his favorite team, Manchester United.  Delighted with the socks, he asked the curious question, "How many years has it been since soccer stopped?"  Since soccer is played daily all around the world, and therefore has not "stopped", we pressed him to explain.  He said, "You know, how many years since it has been on television?"  What he actually wanted to know was how long it had been since the World Cup ended.  In his mind, it had been several years since the televised tournament.  In fact, it had only been 3 months.

His poor dejected face dropped when we explained that the World Cup had just taken place in July, and that it wouldn't start again for another 4 years.  4 years!  In the mind of a child, 3 months is an eternity.  How long will 4 years feel?

Yet for me (an adult woman who is not quite willing to release her age) sitting there gazing at his face, the past six years were erased in an instant, and he was just a baby, an infant, with no thoughts yet of soccer or birthdays or presents.  The time since his birth was a blink, a sliver, a mere moment.  Yet here he was, 6 years old and counting, just days away from being a young man.

Time is a constant and unchanging thing.  But the way it feels to us, how long or short, how painful or freeing, depends entirely on our perspectives and circumstances.  Today I wish to freeze time, as each passing minute takes me further away from my boy as a baby.  But tomorrow I may wish to speed time up, as I eagerly await the start of the Christmas holidays.  Regardless of my wishes and thoughts, I am certain of this.  Time may bring me pain and heartache, change and conflict, but it will always bring with it laughter and joy, love and friendship, life and beauty.  And soccer.  After all, where would the world be without soccer?

For more information on my son's favorite team, visit http://www.premierleague.com/page/manchester-united

If time seems to be either too fast or too slow to you, please leave me a comment and let me know!