22 years later…

Posted on: Wednesday, March 22, 2000
Posted at: 10:10 AM

Time’s passage has been uneven—defined mainly by the setting of the sun, the turning of the seasons, and the celebrating of occasions.

I am different from the child I was so many years ago; different, still today, from the woman I was just yesterday.

I vividly recollect that sunny, Sunday afternoon…

A little girl out for a walk with her father.

Images come to me in flashes…

My tiny hand…
My father’s hand…
My tiny hand in my father’s hand.
My father’s hand — so big, so strong.

I am a little girl.

I am a little girl walking with my father, skipping along to his stride.

I am a little girl walking with my father… without a care in the world.

I miss that about myself today.

Many times I have walked that same street.

And, today when I walk down that same street…

I can stand on that same curb, close my eyes and conjure that moment.

Standing, with my father…

Standing and waiting.

Cars honking. Cars going by…

“Now daddy?”

“No Nancy, not yet.”

Impatient, so impatient!

Waiting…

People talking. People laughing. People rushing.

“Now daddy?”

“Not yet, Nancy.”

How I wish I had his patience.

Waiting…

‘Don’t Walk’ > ‘Walk’

“Now daddy? Now?”

“Yes, Nancy.”

2000-03-22  »  scc