It was finally a beautiful day in March and I needed the warmth of the sun after a long winter of snow, rain and gloom. I ate my McDonald’s sandwich in the car facing the sun and watched people come and go in the parking lot.

While looking in my rearview mirror, I noticed a young woman walking into the building.  I could only see her from behind. She had long hair and wore a long sweater which hung below her waist like a car coat. Her legs were thin and shapely in her jeans and she carried a fashionable handbag on her shoulder. Selfishly, I was saddened by the youthful appearance of this unknown woman. I thought of how time crawls when we wait and speeds just when we want to slow down. Where had my youth gone?  I momentarily wished I were younger or at least sported a more youthful looking body.

I was feeling unhappy about my prime being behind me when a large older car pulled into the parking lot and slowly passed in front of me. I saw a short older white-haired man behind the wheel of a big sedan. He looked so small compared to the size of his car and his head barely showed above the headrest.

What a huge contrast to what I had just seen behind me. I was feeling sorry for my place in the aging time-line and now as if to finish that thought, another example of what, in all likelihood was my future,  appeared in front of me.  What was in my rearview mirror was my past and what passed in front of me was my future, all in the space of a few moments. I was right smack in the middle.

Feeling resigned to the cycle of Life none of us can avoid, I left the parking lot. I stopped on my way out to let another elderly man cross the street. He ambled with small shuffling steps; a cane in one hand and a see-through plastic bag with his recent purchases in the other.

Where will I be in another decade or so?

 

by Alice Deeny