Saturday, March 28, 2009

Aldous Huxley on the passage of time...

..."well, there seems to be plenty of it." (Doors of Perception) He was utterly wrong about that. In fact, he was literally tripping on acid when he wrote it, which is the only way one could make such a nonsensical statement. Let me illustrate...

Makeup. A collaborative effort with a friend because of the occasion.

New shoes. Apparently a requirement. And powerfully uncomfortable based on the early exit polls. But still worn.

New hairdo. Also a collaborative effort with a friend. Sometimes this requires a trip to the stylist, but not today.

Dress. Frequently a new one is required. But not this time. The gorgeous one from the closet works.

Getting the nails done. Another requirement.

Flowers. On the lapel for him...on the wrist for her.

The borrowed car. A very fine corvette. Which made your humble correspondent a bit nervous...only, they were only in it for a short ride, which leads to...

The pictures. A requirement.

The limo. Several classmates sharing the limo to dinner, and after.

It was...*drum roll*...Senior PROM NIGHT! (the crowd roars & the Dads are nervous...)
Anne left a bit ago with her date. A nice young man whom I once coached when he played jv football. He looked nice in his tux.

But (in the words of Frank Zappa), Great Googly-Moogly! She looked gorgeous!! (said the totally unbiased Dad...) My cell phone pics do NOT do her justice. Again, he looked nice, but she looked beautiful. And the heck of it is this: she looks beautiful 1st thing in the morning with no makeup, hairdo, nail job, new shoes, nice dress,...(inherits this trait from her Mother) But she sure looked gorgeous all styled for Prom.

I remember a couple of proms 32 & 33 years ago. This other young lady back then also looked gorgeous; I looked well, like a beach bum hippy-wannabe burnout. We went to both jr. & sr. prom together. Jr. year as an official couple, sr. year as, well, a former couple I guess. Last I heard, she's a preacher's wife out in west TX somewhere.

Earlier, while watching them pull out of my driveway, I was struck again with the utter brevity of time and the amazing speed of its passage.

Got little girls @ your house? Who draw on the walls & play dress up & make messes & watch the same ol' Disney movies on a daily basis? Who want to "help" cook? Who sing loudly? Who nap on occasion & who don't sometimes when they're supposed to?

Enjoy them. I know it's very difficult to do so at times. I also know that it seems now & then like they'll never grow out of whatever stage they're in @ the moment. But make it a very, very high priority to enjoy them. Laugh with them, make messes with them, watch the movies, sing the songs,...do it all.

Because in what'll seem to you like another day or two, some dude will be pulling out of your driveway with your treasure in the right seat all dolled up for her senior prom. And you'll wonder where the time went...

bb

p.s. - if I can figure how to make pictures go from my phone to my computer to the web, I'll add some shortly. Until then, go enjoy a moment with your little girls...

2 comments:

Leslie said...

Mike, thanks for your wisdom :-) I'm so thankful for a husband like you that makes time for his girls...we're getting ready to pile up in the bed and watch a movie!!

Anonymous said...

Mike, such a touching writing from a father's heart! Makes me long to see my Daddy again--he's been in heaven since Aug. 16, 1996; but oh, was he a good Daddy to his 3 girls! Your daughter is blessed to have you in her life!

Janice Martin
Hattiesburg