Honeysuckle

When I was a teenager, I remember how the summer vacation from school seemed to last forever. It felt like I had an unlimited supply of days to lay around the house, shoot some hoops, or ride my bike on the trails in my neighborhood. In those days I never once had a thought that I would grow up or have adult responsibilities. It never occurred to me that my time was finite or that my youth was a temporary season.

Today I have a teenage daughter whose time with me is nearly over. In short order she will be going off to college and to start her own life. When she was much younger and we were laughing and playing those daddy/daughter games of childhood, I thought that they would last forever. When she would plead her usual bedtime question, "Can we read just one more story?", I would tell her that she needed her sleep because we had adventures to live tomorrow. I never gave a single moment of thought that those moments would run out.

At the end of the most days now, I feel a fatigue in my bones. My muscles are sore, my knees ache, my back is stiff. I know that I am just following the path that we all must follow. The miles behind me outnumber the miles I have left. Sometimes when I am still and look out there, I can almost see the terminus. Hazy, some distance off, but definitely approaching. I often wish that I could go back now and read just one more story to that young version of my daughter. To feel her small arms wrapped tightly around my neck and the joy in her kisses, sweet as honeysuckle.