It all went by so fast

     We are all the ages we've ever been. That means that inside my 53 year old self is that little four year old boy in the picture above, who thought he looked pretty sharp in his pants pulled up past his navel and black suspenders. I've also got the twelve year old boy inside who discovered Science Fiction novels and disappeared into them for many years. And the teenager who fell in love for a lifetime with the girl next door, and the young father, and the grandfather who, six years ago, lost his first, precious granddaughter to complications from heart surgery.     I am all these people, and hundreds, maybe thousands more. So are you, right? No matter how people know you now, there might be no one that thinks about you like you do yourself, in all your incarnations. And, here's the thought I want to emphasize now, while I still feel like I am in the middle of my life... It all went by so fast.       I know that to your eyes, that picture above is dated. It is black and white and has furniture and clothes in it that have been out of style for four decades or more. But to me, to the memory I have of that boy -- it wasn't very long ago. And that little girl standing beside me? She was Denise, one of my earliest friends. She's gone now too, passed away years ago. It all goes by so fast.     Life is good right now. I am able to follow my life-long dream to be creative. I spend hours every day writing my stories, or my silly Facebook updates or this blog. I spend every day with that same girl-next-door, who these days is the girl-next-to-me-in-bed, which is a very good thing. I would like to find the pause button somewhere and push it so I can slow things down for a while.     I was talking to an online friend the other day. His job requires that he spend a great deal of time with people who are living out their last days. He told me that the most common thing he hears from these dying men and women are not complaints or regrets. Instead, he says, so many of them say "It all went by so fast."     One of my dear friends, Bob McKean, passed away several months ago. He and I had a great many things in common - music in particular, but also our love of the sad-sack Seattle Mariners. When the M's season opens next week, it won't feel right without Bob there. The last time I saw Bob, he knew he was dying and that the end wasn't far. When I left his room that last time, I told him how much I appreciated him and who he was. I held his hand briefly as I left and he looked at me and smiled and said "It was a helluva ride."     It all goes by so fast.     There is no solution, of course. No pause button. The only thing to do is to spend as much time as possible with the people we love and doing the things we love. Savor the flavor of life, suck the marrow from the bone, because it will all... ah, you know.