Wednesday, December 25, 2013

A Little Perspective

This morning I looked up at my ceiling and saw the little sticker marks that my erstwhile glow-in-the-dark stars had left behind.

The stars are long gone, but the mark stays.

I had stuck the stars onto my ceiling about 10 years ago, when Miguel was a little  boy. He shared my bed  then, and at night we'd point a flashlight at the ceiling so that the stars would glow above us. I remember watching as the fluorescent glow faded, hoping that it could last just a little bit longer.  

Those sticker marks have always been on my ceiling for the past 10 years or more. They've never really caught my attention. But now I'm glad that they did.

Seeing them now during this quiet moment as the morning sun filters into my room brings back happy memories of those innocent years. I'm happy to say that those were moments well spent, exploring the wonders of childhood with my son. No regrets.

Now he is a teenager, and has long since moved out of my  room. I am hardly his priority. But now I must ask myself: years from now, will I look back on these days as time well spent?

There is a redeeming "yes" there, and I must say that it's because I've made it a point to frequently take him out to lunch or dinner, just the two of us. It's very important to me that I invest the time to create these memories. That's the only way I will be able to say to myself that I have no regrets in my life.

A lot of changes will have to happen now, since this is the way that I want to live my life.