The clocks are ticking. Especially here, at my parents house, in the deep country, where the ticking of the clocks are the loudest thing going. I am not talking only about those noisy (relatively) things with pointers that endlessly go round and round either.
Today is my parents 50th Anniversary. That clock has been ticking a long long time, even longer than me! :-) It is a huge milestone that few reach. According to Divorce Magazine.com only 5% of all marriages reach the 50 year mark . . . or another way of viewing that statistic is that 95% of all marriages do not last 50 years. Kudos to my parents, number one for raising me - a most cantankerous child, number two for staying together when it would have been so easy to go their own individual paths. I am humbled and amazed that my folks are so special.
But this morning at 3:18am when I woke up and could not fall back to sleep, I realized that their clock is ticking. Health issues are eroding their quality of life. That clock has now become an enemy of sorts. While they have beaten it by staying together 50 years, it will still win in the end, and it appears much sooner than later.
I also realized that my clock is ticking as well in the quiet of the sleepless night. 47 years old is such a big number . . . to my 16 year old especially, not so big to my parents, and a childishly small number to my grandparents who are almost 90 years old and still pushing cows around with their walking canes. But everything works a little slower than I think it should, heals slower, comes to mind slower, decisions are slower, even my definition of fast is slower. Yes the clock is ticking.
I guess than means it is a good day to make it count. Tick Tock Tick Tock go the loud clocks out in the country . . . make 'em count.
