all that i am

so this morning driving home
WAITING for the light to change
I watched a man WAITING to cross the street
he looked like Santino in 75 years??!?!?

his grey hair was soft against his head
and sortof brushed towards his face
and his eyes were wide
as he looked around at the changing lights
and his mouth was in that little oh shape
that the baby has done since birth
and does so often lately...

I just thought of Santino at the ripe old age of 75....

maybe because his father's birthday was yesterday
breaking a quarter century
beginning his 26th year
WAITING to hear where this next part of their life will be lived
WAITING to hear about 'a job'

this year he is...half my age...
 
we play a little remembrace game on birthdays...
sharing and telling stories of ..."when I was your age"

"...when I turned 26"
I was pregnant with our second child
WAITING for our daughter to be born
we were on the verge of buying our first house

our daughter is now 24
"when I was 24"
I married
apparently they have been 'talking'...of perhaps marrying
WAITING to see if this oh so seemingly Mr. right...
will be the one...

she is full of questions
as always...
about marriage
and children
and how??!?
and what if
and how??!?

oh to be 24 again
I never imagined
we'd have four children in five years...

I never imagined being this age...
...being a nonni
...having a daughter in law!
...having an almost-maybe son in law?!?!
...having one son WAITING to decide where he will go
     to grad school??!
...and another deciding what he will do this year...
     the year he turns 21!

I never imagined
that life would go by so swiftly
before we know it
we will be 75
Lord willing

yet in the swiftness there's so much time WAITING

and in the time of waiting...life is lived

in the sunshine of 60 degree days
in the wind
in the snow falls
in the celebrations
in having everyone home...

something I never even imagined
would ever be important to me...
is suddenly all I long for in this world