Almost

Recently, we enjoyed lunch with one of my former employees, his lovely wife, and four out of five of his children. They’re well behaved kids who are home schooled and very comfortable around adults. We hadn’t seen them in several years and, as usual, the kids were much taller and more grown up than when last we met.

I love that when you ask youngsters how old they are, the reply is usually almost eight or ten or twelve. I believe you could ask a child their age and even if they turned seven last Thursday, they would reply almost eight. They’re always looking ahead. Some might say they are wishing their lives away. I prefer to think they are having such a good time that they can’t wait to see what the next year holds.

At some point, maybe twenty-one, we stop looking forward to the next age milestone and instead we look for life markers like wedding anniversaries or retirement or Medicare or grandchildren and the like. We’re still looking at an almost, just not a birthday driven one. Maybe we should all slow down to savor the now instead of looking toward the alluring almost around the next corner or over that third hill on the horizon. But it’s hard to change the habit you acquired in childhood.

The dictionary definitions say almost means: not quite, not exactly, not entirely or very nearly. I prefer the optimistic last option. It sounds more hopeful, like it is really going to happen. The odds are lining up strongly on the in favor of side.

Yesterday, I submitted my approval of the final galleys for “Polly’s List”. Now it is with the pre-production team who will assign the publication date. All of that author-speak simply means I am ALMOST a published author and that is something I’m looking forward to. Enjoy!