LIFE GOES ON

As you’re reading this, we are in Portland Oregon celebrating our granddaughter’s sixth birthday. She lives here with her mom and dad, and having her in our life gives me a wonderful opportunity to see how much a child can change from year to year. We see her every year, and every time we come back, she seems to be a little different. She is growing, learning, changing, and transforming into a new human being right in front of our eyes.

Of course, we communicate regularly through FaceTime, but it’s not the same. There is something about being together in person that allows you to see the changes you might otherwise miss.

Recently, we attended friend’s birthday party. There were people around our age whom I hadn’t seen for many years. Some of them I probably wouldn’t have recognized if I had passed them on the street. And then I realized something. This is how I have changed, too. The difference is that when I look in the mirror every morning, I don’t see it. I see the same Manny. But the difference is there. Time is moving. Life is moving. And we are moving with it.

On Wednesday I opened the San Francisco Chronicle and saw a rendering of a huge new building—175 units planned for our neighborhood in West Portal. West Portal has been a sleepy neighborhood for generations. Much of it has looked and felt the same since the 1920s. And now someone wants to bring a major change. Do I like the change? No. I don’t think this building belongs there. It wasn’t designed for this kind of development. But whether I like it or not, sooner or later, it will probably be built. And maybe that is the lesson.

How do we relate to change? How do we recognize that change is coming? Sometimes, all we have to do is look around us. Watch a child grow. Meet someone you haven’t seen for years. Look at your neighborhood. Look in the mirror.

We may not notice the changes happening to us every day, but they are happening. And perhaps the greatest evidence that life is going on is not what we see in the mirror. It is what we see when we look around us. Our granddaughter is six now. Next year she will be seven. And I will be another year older. The neighborhood may look different. The world will certainly be different. And that’s okay. Because whether we like it or not— life goes on. 

The three images you see here are self-explanatory.

Enjoy and share.