As Time Goes By

We are down to a handful of weeks before we leave Virginia and move to Ohio.  This impending move has made me take a second look at all that I take for granted about living in the DC area.  To think about places I’d like to visit just one more time before we move. There are the obvious things.  The monuments at night, some favorite restaurants, and my very favorite place of all, Mount Vernon.  I love the view over the Potomac from the back of the house.  It takes my breath away every time.

But there are less obvious things that I will miss about our home here.  I have been walking and running around my neighborhood for 5 years now.  I’ve seen 5 seasons of cherry trees blossom, 5 seasons of leaves change to brilliant oranges and yellows, 5 school years start, and soon, 5 school years end.  I sent my firstborn off to kindergarten here and will soon watch her leave the fourth grade and walk out of our dear school for the last time.

I’ve seen time pass in the people that I pass each day on my walks/runs.  When I first moved here I used to see this older couple walking together every morning.  They had each passed 70 years ago, but they were still moving.  Both would have their wide brimmed hats on and they would stride along with great determination.  She was usually a step or two ahead of him.

Then one day, he was gone.  And instead of the two of them, it was just her.  Soon after that it was her in a wheelchair being pushed by a caregiver and then one day, she was gone also.

I’ve watched families grow.  New mothers have progressed from pushing babies in strollers to chasing after toddlers to enjoying the newly discovered freedom of going for a walk by yourself after the kids are big enough for preschool.  I’ve watched single strollers turn into double strollers and then back again.

I have been blessed by having a woman who always says “God Bless You” every time I pass her.  I don’t know her name.  We’ve never stopped and chatted as we are always going in opposite directions.  But I know to look for her if I take a certain route.  And I look forward to it.

I don’t even know the names of the people that I’ve described.  But I feel like I’ve been privileged to share in their lives just a little.  I hope that I smiled at them more often than I did not.

There will be new people in the new neighborhood.  And time will not stop here just because I’m not here to witness it.

Time goes by.

One walk at a time.