Blink Poem by Jim Yerman

Our youngest grandchild attended to her high school's Homecoming dance…
she looked beautiful…but I must admit to being torn….
After all…wasn't it only yesterday her homecoming was from the hospital…
wasn't yesterday…only yesterday…the day when she was born.

As I smiled at her picture…I couldn't believe my eyes….
Where had all the time gone? How did 17 years slip so quickly by?

It reminds me of something my father said to me when I turned 17…
I remember he looked at me…smiled then sighed…
"Cherish every moment in life." He said. "Because it goes by…in the blink of an eye".

And he was right…of course he was…because when I look back…and think
the best way to describe how time passes in life…would be…in a blink.

BLINK! …I was standing talking with my dad.
BLINK! …I was in college…on my own.
BLINK! …I was teaching
BLINK! …I was married with a family
BLINK! …our children were all grown.

BLINK! …we had grandchildren
BLINK! …we were babysitting
BLINK! …our grandchildren could stand on their own.
BLINK! …our grandchildren were off to school
BLINK! …our grandchildren were all grown.

BLINK! …I was retired.
BLINK! …I was thinking how time can be both generous…and mean
BLINK! …I was looking at a picture of my granddaughter at her high school Homecoming…
thinking…how can she be 17.

Then I looked up to the heavens…to where my dad is…and I smiled then sighed…
"I've tried to cherish every moment." I whispered…"that have passed in the blink of an eye."

"You were right, Dad." I said. "But here is something else I've come to think…
what gives life it's joy…
it's beauty…
it's meaning…
is what we do with it…
in between the blinks.