I use my children as points of reference to define the time things happened in my life. I'm sure ya'll do too but I will give an example just in case you have no idea what I am talking about. Our church is having a 10 year anniversary celebration! I was pregnant with my 5th child when we moved into that building. Wow, no wonder I don't remember a single event, including the Christmas play I was in. Or: I remember when we went to Cancun, we only had 3 kids then and I was pregnant! My life, at least in the last 17 years, has been defined by which kid I was pregnant with or nursing at the time. Since the majority of the people I hang with are in a similiar stage of life, I hadn't realized I was doing this until I started college. This year, one of my 18 year old classmates asked me, "Why do you define time by which kid you were pregnant with?" Her question stumped me (but only for a second). I asked her what defining times did she have in her life. Going from middle school to high school maybe or before or after she went to some great camp that changed her life. Life is doled out moment to moment but we don't remember it that way. We remember it in chunks and by the people that were important in that chunk. So, I remember Cancun and I remember I was pregnant because I couldn't imbibe in the all you can drink option that came with our plan. I remember going to MI with my friend and our combined 12 children, including my 3 month old and her 3 week old. We will forever define that trip with those 2 babies ages. I remember when our church opened it's doors to our brand new building 10 years ago because I was holding my only son in my arms.
How do you define time? Before or after your marriage? Maybe it's a significant death that is your marking. Maybe it's when you became an empty nester or a first time parent. Or maybe it's when you got devastating news like, "Before the cancer". All of us define time in some way. What's your way?
I define time by where I lived. I can almost always instantly recall how old I was as a child when recalling an event because we rarely lived anywhere longer than a year, sometimes less. If it's Japan, I was 4. If it's Connecticut, I was 7. If it's England, I was 11. If it's Texas, I was 9 or 10...but I did go to two different schools for 4th and 5th grade in Texas, so I can usually narrow it down.
ReplyDeleteSince I view time in terms of places, it seems like my childhood was "chunked" and somehow longer than someone who just lived in one place. That makes no sense, but it does speak to our perception of time.