To be savored. By one and all.

My mother would be turning 99 on Wednesday. That is, if she had lived. Instead of dying. At age 88. Was thinking about her today. And about time, too. Imagining that I was living 100 years ago. In 1913. Before mother was even conceived. Much of history was still to unfold. To make mother’s life possible. And mine, too. And so many events to come. Two world wars. Landing man on the moon. Sending spacecraft beyond  our solar system. In the grand scheme of time, barely an instant. Yet so much change. And now here I am. Mother’s gone. Father, too. For over a half century. And my time on the wane, too. Wonder. Wonder of it all. How with a little twist of fate, the three of us might never have been. Or is it all fated? Pre-ordained? Could I see it all unfold from a perch outside of time? And then enter time. To make everything unfold in different ways? In a parallel universe. The slightest altering of a circumstance. May totally change the outcome of millions of lives. A fascinating thought. So many ways to get it right. But then again, maybe there is no right or wrong way. Life is life. There to be savored. By one and all. –Jim Broede