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Sunday, February 11, 2007

The days are long. It's the years that are short


I heard the title of this post today, and if you think about it, it really is true. How every winter, it seems like the days just drag until Spring Training, then it takes forever to get to opening day, then the year just flies by: well, that's all true, but I'm actually talking about my kids!
We were married 5 years before Ciera came along. I'm glad we waited as long as we did. We got to know each other and become friends before the responsibility of raising children. We got to travel some, sleep in on Saturdays, and just got to keep falling in love. All our friends kept saying how we'd better get started because it could take 6 months or a year to get pregnant. Well, 28 days after we first started, Angie was pregnant. Tells me the night before we fly to Cancun for our 5th anniversary!
Once Ciera got here, life just seemed to move into 5th gear. I blink, and she is 3 years old. We had said we wanted to have 3 children, about 3 years apart, so we get pregnant again. You ever hear that Van Zandt brothers song that has this line in it? "If you want to hear God laugh, tell him YOUR plans". He had a different one in mind for us: we lost 2 babies in the span of 6 months, and we weren't sure then if we would be able to have anymore.
Flash forward to November of 2003, and Rakes comes along. About halfway through the pregnancy with him, the Doctor tells us there is a good chance Rakes has downs syndrome. We've got that on our minds the day he's born, and he then proceeds to come out with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck! If you know Rakes, or read this blog, you know he doesn't have Downs: boy is a live wire without insulation who travels everywhere he goes full throttle. He walks, talks, runs, and thinks at warp speed. Just goes to show you that Doctors don't know everything.
Lastly, there is Baby Trot. He'll be 1 year old the end of March, and it seems like yesterday we brought him home. It seems like it was yesterday for ALL of them: I have no clue where the last 8 years have gone. It seems like the day will never end, and as soon as you shut your eyes at night, it's daytime. Step back though, and look back at the years past: gone in a blink. One of these days it'll just be Angie and I again. Just like we started.
Treasure the time you have with your kids. If you don't have any, then treasure time with your spouse, or boyfriend/girlfriend, or just your family. Take your wife out on a date, or sit out on the porch swing and look at the stars while you hold her hand. Enjoy watching the Sox games with your kids or buddies, take the time to have a catch with your daughter or son. Jump up off your couch and scream at another Big Papi walkoff, even if you are gonna wake the whole house.
Live your life.
Because although the days seem like they will never end, it's how quick the years go by that will get you.

10 comments:

Sonya@Beyond the Screen Door said...

Hey I used to have a shirt like that but I gave it to a guy who I have watched turn into a man a husband and a father. You ought to meet him I think you would like him!

Ted D said...

He sounds like one heck of a guy!

Have his people call my people and we'll do lunch.

Hey bub: I just read the Hornets let the deadline pass for coming back to OKC next year.

Is the Sonic talk dead, or could they still show up?

Sonya@Beyond the Screen Door said...

Shinn talk's from both sides of his mouth or depending on who he is talking to! I think they figured out they can't get out of the lease in the big easy. The sonic deal is hinging on a new arena which is getting little support in Seattle. So it may be setting up to come here!

Ted D said...

I think you guys are getting the shaft. If they get the attendance in New Orleans they are getting in OKC, I'll be shocked.

Talk about a kick to the marbles!

Tex said...

ok boys back to the post at hand!!
Ted you made me tear up at this post! You KNOW how I feel about life is short and taking advantage with your loved ones. When all is said and done...I want people to remember me and say
She loved MUCH and Laughed Much. your pic is beautiful of your family. Soak in every minute with your kids....it WILL go by like a flash! Hard to believe my son will be 29 this March!! ok hard to believe I will be 49...cos I dont act it

Tree Newt said...

Who are you and what have you done with my brother?!!! Ok, I get crap for being a navel-gazer, and you can post something like THIS?!! Not that I don't agree with everything you said, but, HELOOOOOOO!!!! Who's the softy? Once again, Mr. Pot, I think I hear Kettle calling!!! Have you been watching Oprah with Angie?

Tree Newt said...

Oh, and Bub, as for Mr. Shinn and the Hornets...he's screwing you guys just like he screwed Charlotte. You're Welcome.

Peter N said...

As Billy Joel said...."These are the times we'll remember, although they will not last forever....."

And Bruce? "Glory Days, well they'll pass you by. Glory days, in the wink of a young boy's eye"
Great picture.......thanks for the smiles! Peter

Ted D said...

Tex, I try to enjoy every minute I'm with them, but I gotta admit I get tired sometimes!

Matty, beneath this stony exterior beats a heart of stone. You know this little brother!

KAYLEE said...

Nice post!And I thought I lived a hard life!I guess I should enjoy life while I am still young:)