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I saw decades of time pass in only a few steps through Wegman’s Market today.

First, as I was hurrying through the store to grab some diapers for our third child, Kirsten, I noticed a young couple apparently discussing which variety of bread they might need to take home. The first thing I noticed was how young they looked… I AM getting old… 🙂 Upon further (albeit quick) study, they appeared to be newlyweds. Just trying to figure out the whole shopping for groceries thing…

I started thinking about when Jen and I were first married, and we were trying to figure out life together… how we were going to do things… it wasn’t always easy… 🙂 But the coolness of time passed is that only the fond rememberings remain.

My next thoughts were something out of my post the other day, “The Extras”. I wondered if that was really what we looked like back then. Young, inexperienced, bewildered… 🙂 Probably. It’s fun to think you know what you’re doing as you go along in life, but usually once you get far enough ahead to see clearly behind you, you realize that it was only wishful thinking. I assume that only continues to increase along the way.

So, I smiled at our naivety. At our inexperience. At our youthfulness.

And then I realized that I was staring at them, so I moved on. 🙂

Then, only a few paces further, I passed a man who was probably in his 70s. Perhaps even his 80s. (I hope he doesn’t read my blog… or if he does, that he doesn’t mind me thinking him older than he is…) 🙂 We exchanged smiles, and I kept on toward my diaper goal.

But then the time-warp thing happened again. I imagined me after living some 40 more years. 133% more than what I have already lived. What experiences must I have had? What challenges? What decisions must I have faced? What trials have gone into the wrinkles on my face? What joys have sustained me through them?

And I wondered what he thought of me. 40 years from now, will I look at the 30 year old father of 3 walking through Wegmans in search of diapers, and think back fondly to the days when I thought I had a good grasp on life. When I had a handle on life as I knew it. When I had youthful naivety. Longing for the freshness of that life, but relishing the wisdom that has come from all these years of experience. And the peace that has come with that.

Someday, perhaps I will be that man. And I will pass the young father, and smile. I will again pass the newlyweds… and smile. I will pass the new grandparents, and smile. I will hold the time-weathered hand of my wife of some 5 decades, and smile at where God has brought us.

For now, I will enjoy the current age. Thanks God for today. For the richness of the past and the hope of the future. You rock!

From age to age.