Remember...

Every now and then when I get a chance to pause from mu busy life, my mind usually travels back in time. My heart and soul thirst for these days that have gone and are now stored away forever. In these moments, the dust is blown away from those days. I can once again feel the feelings I felt, savor the moments experienced, and cherish those memories made. Now my life is hectic. I have become accustomed to my fast paced everyday existence. I don't even realize when a day has gone by and another one begins. Everything is stirred together into a sawrm of days, months, and before we know it...years. I do not feel that I am missing out on much, but when I happen onto a pause in my life, I remember all the little moments that have passed me by. These moments are not mine to have anymore. Once they were mine to love and cherish. But the years have stripped these days from us, and we do not have the option of going back to them... no matter how much we desire. That is the flaw with time. We enjoy moments when we are in them, but once these moments are long gone, we look back with fondness. We not only cherish them, but long to go back and relive them over and over again. But we can't. Those times are locked in a vault, never to be taken out again. Only in our minds.
The days I long for were simpler days. Days when I lived life to the fullest. The fullest not being fancy objects, lots of money, or world travel. The fullest to me was days filled with simplicity and charm. Days I didn't have to worry through...only enjoy. I never dreaded a day, but only looked forward to it. My mornings were not rushed...but savored. I could actually see a sunrise and soak it in. Afternoons were not filled with papers and tests, but dolls, "orphans", cooking, fort building, and "Remember the Alamo" reenactments in the woods. Evenings were not a time to cram leftovers, instead they were a time to wind down and look forward to the next day. This was not accomplished by studying or pouring over homework. Evenings were spent around the dinner table for a long awaited meal. If the nights were warm enough we would continue a game from the afternoon, not even considering the darkness around us. I would crawl into bed satisfied and eager for the next opportunity to relive that day.
Time takes away more than childhood haunts and rambles. Time steals. It steals our zeal for life, our health, our relationships, our moments. In my vault from the past I think fondly of my neighbors also enjoying their days by our side. They also led a simple life. At the end of each day they would relax on their porch...watching the sun go down and our silhouettes dancing across their yard. But time has stolen this as well. The simple life is still their. But now it has a different meaning for them. Time has taken, not only these moments, but their ability to relive them. The chairs on the porch are cold and rusted from their lack of use. Their evenings are now spent indoors. The life they once knew is slipping away, becasue time is taking not only their past...but their future as well. The life lived is drawing to a close. And yet, they can only reminiscence on days gone by. Their porch is empty, and we no longer dance in their yard.
We are all still here... on this earth. They are inside their house living out the reminder of their lives in simple solitude...remembering. Meanwhile, I am living out the remainder of my life running, always running, trying to catch something I do not even recognize. But I always remember. Everyone remembers. Can we do anything about it? Can we go back to those days? No. All we can do is...remember.