The sun sets on another day…
Sunset was more than spectacular, but the time leading up to sunset, well, it took my breath away.
And there I was. Sitting on top of a blow-up slide after climbing up a series of stairs that a giant old man probably shouldn’t have been able to do. There I was looking at my grandson having a great time and being a child. There I was, being a child again, if only for a moment.
I’m sure there are people who saw me at the top of this slide 15 feet in the air, bouncing every time I moved at all, wondering if I had a screw loose. I’m sure several others wondered how I got my giant body up in between all of the little nets I had to climb to get there. Still others probably laughed with me for a moment and got a kick out of me trying to be a child again. I’m sure there were some haters too, but haters never matter.
There I was watching everyone and the magic continued. My grandson saw me and yelled, “Pawpaw” in his amazing voice. A few seconds before I was alone, unnoticed by the children that were swirling around ball pits and foam castles, and then it happened. My grandson raced to the top of the stairs with a speed that I could not easily duplicate. I laughed as he pulled his way to the top, only three years old and he was more adept than many of the people I have known. He came up and hugged me for just a second as he giggled, then he sat down on the slide next to me.
We counted down, and the two of us race down the slide until we got to the bottom. And there I was, three years old, there in an instant and then gone again. It isn’t hard to realize why children are young, it’s not their age, it’s that they want to be. I sat at the bottom for just a minute as a few people laughed, my grandson was 3 and I was 20 times older, but we had raced and for a moment we were peers, and it was good.
I raced to the ball pit, dove in and buried myself, and then became the monster that all the children had to avoid. A fantastic time was had by all, and I, I was young again, and I enjoyed every second of it.
So as the sun sets on another day, why ask why when how is so much more fun. The question isn’t why would you do something like that, but instead how can you do something like that. Hold on to your youth every moment that you can, because it doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside. What matters is how you feel on the inside. I think I’ll be 18 again until the end of time, and then maybe I’ll turn 19. I hope you’re there with me, no matter what.
Sleep sweet, love life, and keep riding…