By Larry McGee/Guest

Attempting to define or measure time is a real challenge for humans. The Romans measured it with grains of sand moving through an hour glass. The late Jim Croce wrote and sung a beautiful ballad entitled, “If I Could Put Time In A Bottle.”

Now that the journey had moved on to 2021, it seems like just the other day when we were being warned about Y2K.

Whenever I sit down and strive to type out how to define time, I always come up empty with thoughts. Yes, I know we have Apple watches and calendars on our smartphones but what is time?

Have you ever gotten a reminder of how quickly it can pass right in front of your eyes?

I did once and still remember the details. The reminder took place on my 20th birthday. I had those dreaded Saturday classes in college but with my schedule that semester, I was free for 24 hours during the week. Time to spend the night at home and visit my parents.

My mother was inside in the kitchen preparing my favorite meal and my father happened to be home. He was sitting on the yard swing and I was walking around on the driveway enjoying a beautiful fall day.

My father said, “Hey, come over and sit awhile… I would like to talk with you.” We swung for a moment and then he said, “Now that you are twenty, I want you to know that time is really going to start flying by quickly.” Then he placed his arm around my back and snapped his fingers three times to audibly illustrate his previous statement.

I acknowledged what my father had just said because I knew he would never lie to me. Even though it is next to impossible for a 20 year old who hasn’t finished college and still single with no family of his own to grasp what I had just heard.

Now after five decades of time passing by, I can still remember the color of shirt that I was wearing and that beautiful blue sky and yet my father’s really important words went right over my head.

Yes, time is illusive.

(Comments about this article may be addressed to larryglvnn@yahoo.com