Winter has, for the most part, faded away into Spring.  It always seems such a rushed short season between family events (like communions, baptisms, and graduations) and social events (like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Easter).  There are always a lot of fun things you can do outside when the weather’s nice during the spring.  There are always a lot of happy people going around to fun things.

We used to do the same.  DJ loved to go to the carousel at the park.  He was a big fan of the ducks in the pond nearby.  DJ also loved going to the “Spring Time” carnival they held nearby, usually on Mother’s Day weekend.  Ride after ride he’d go… but nothing beat the big potato sack slide.  Even when there were other reasons in the adult-o-sphere that made it not the best of times… it was always a good time…

But this year I’ll end up going to these places, and new places where I harbor a regret about having never taken DJ.  I’ll see the families walking around.  Undoubtedly I will come across some parent who will be wrapped up in petty bullshit like fruit punch on a clean shirt, peanut butter and jelly handprints on shorts, a child running circles around a great tree, or some other action that the parent feels is too childish (as if there is such a thing) and will have no appreciation for.

I’ll want to walk up to them, punch them in the head, and tell them that there is more to life than their petty worries about cleaning or acting adult like in the children’s zoo.  I’ll tell them that time is a gift and it’s something that should be enjoyed with their children while they act like children.

But I won’t.  Perhaps that makes me a bad person for not doing that, but it’s not my place to educate people on the fragility of life, the value of time, and the true joy of unconditional love.  It’s not my place because sometimes I wonder, when I’m working late or spending the entire night absorbed by television, if I’ve even learned those lessons myself in order to put them into practice.