Time In a Bottle

It's hard to believe that another week has passed since I posted on this blog.  Believe me, I have been writing, just not here because there are some things that just need to brew in the brain for awhile before being shared.

I feel like chicken tonight, chicken tonight, chicken tonight...  How many people can recall their father dancing around the kitchen clucking and waving his arms like a chicken, singing this song?

I stood beside two very attentive children in church yesterday, holding hands and listening to them recite the Our Father without a hitch, shaking hands during Peace and smiling at all the old ladies who smiled at them.  I heard, "Your kids are so well-behaved" and when the priest touched their hands during communion and said, "May God Bless and Keep You,"  I had to hold back the hiccup of tears.

"I like Kool-Aid all year long!" 
"And I like saving money!"  We did that routine from the time I was eight years old until well after I had children.  Dad didn't miss a beat.

I painted pumpkins with the kids, crossed eyes, big eyebrows, red hearts for the lips and purple ears.  After an hour of adding to each other's pumpkins, my heart melted when I heard Paige say, "This is so much fun Mommy.  It has been a great weekend!" and Tony nodding like she had taken the words right out of his mouth.

"Two women are taking a cruise together, one woman has a lisp.  As they are standing on the deck, they see a man standing by a tri-pod, he puts his head under a black blanket.  The woman with the lisp asks her friend, "Whath thhat man doin?"  And her friend says, "Oh, he's gonna focus," and the woman with the lisp asks, "Boffofus?" Every time I hear the word focus, I hear my dad saying, "Boffufus?".

Tony was in need of a haircut.  The hair around his ears was nearly to his earlobe, and as I tousled his hair I whispered that we would be going for a haircut soon and he said, "If Papa was here he'd say, "Bah, you need a haircut like Papa's, let's go.'"  We got his haircut.  I cried.

"Dad, what song do you want to dance to at my wedding?  Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra?"
"Neither.  I want Jim Croce's If I Could Save Time in a Bottle."
"Really?"
"Really.  I missed a lot of time with my baby girl."
"Okay Dad."

It's been a week of tears and memories, writing and reflection; time spent enjoying the kids, falling back on the love of my family and a deep appreciation for what God has given to me.

If I could save time in a bottle

The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day
Till Eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you


If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I'd save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you


But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them


I've looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go
Through time with


If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you


But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
I've looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go
Through time with