Don’t Blink

I turned on the evening news
Saw an old man being interviewed
Turning a hundred and two today
Asked him what’s the secret to life
He looked up from his old pipe
Laughed and said “All I can say is:”

Don’t blink
Just like that you’re six years old and you take a nap and you
Wake up and you’re twenty-five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife
Don’t blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your “better half”
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you’re praying God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think
So don’t blink

I was glued to my TV when it looked like he looked at me and said
“Best start putting first things first.”
Cause when your hourglass runs out of sand
You can’t flip it over and start again
Take every breathe God gives you for what it’s worth

So I’ve been tryin’ ta slow it down
I’ve been tryin’ ta take it in
In this here today, gone tomorrow world we’re livin’ in

Naw, don’t blink
Life goes faster than you think

It was so appropriate when this Kenny Chesney song came on the radio on the rushed drive to the airport tonight.  The day had certainly not gone as planned and now I was dashing down the 101 to the Burbank airport to hopefully catch the final Southwest Airlines flight to Las Vegas.

The morning began peaceful and without rush at 7am.  My niece, Jayla, was with me for a weekend sleepover while Keith was in Philadelphia for a men’s retreat.  I began writing what I thought would be the blog post for today until Jayla came in to inform me she was hungry.  And so the active portion of my day would officially begin.

I quickly whipped up some oatmeal with butter, brown sugar and chopped apples and a slice of buttered wheat toast on the side.  We sat down at the table and enjoyed Nickelodeon playing in the background.  She lobbied to extend our play date for one more night as I reminded her that she had school tomorrow and we’d already extended it from one night to two and Auntie Fawn had a lot of work to get done.

We agreed to make the most of the day and go to a matinee movie before returning to her home.  We lounged around in our pajamas until 11:30am when we needed to take showers and get dressed for the 12:30pm show.  That’s when the “Jayla Show” began.  Have you ever tried to get a child to move quickly to do something they really don’t want to do?  Well, trying to get little miss Jayla to pack all her things because it was time for our play date to end was like trying to get a tortoise to move a little faster.  She went slow as molasses.

Finally, she was packed, showered and dressed and alas…we were too late for the movie.  So we’d need to catch the 2:30pm show.  But wait, that wouldn’t work either because Auntie Fawn had a conference call set to begin at 3pm so we’d need to go to the 4:30pm show.  And this is where it got interesting.

I’d spent an hour or so on the phone with Keith this morning while he was waiting for the car to take him to the airport.  When the car arrived, we ended the call and agreed to meet at LAX at 9:50pm.  That was until I received a call nearly five hours later that his plane still hadn’t taken off due to mechanical issues and they’d now be routing him through Atlanta and on to Vegas scheduled to arrive close to midnight.

He asked me to check for flights leaving Vegas around midnight heading to any of the four airports in the LA area.  I searched for flights in vain as there was no flight leaving after 9:30pm.  His meetings in LA set for tomorrow are not negotiable so getting home before the morning was not an option for him.

Knowing all this, I immediately went into action.  Conference call would need to be held while I was in route to honor my commitment to my niece and take her to the movies.  I found a theater a little farther away with a 3:15pm showing and although we’d be a bit late we’d get there and I could get on the road.  I’d decided to travel to Vegas.

I purchased the airline ticket while Keith was still in route to Atlanta and asked his mom to take me to the airport.  I knew Keith would be exhausted from traveling all day and the likelihood of him being able to sleep on the plane was slim-to-none.  The idea of him renting a car and driving home alone in the wee hours of the morning made my heart sink for one simple reason: Don’t blink.

So much we take for granted.  We assume our loved ones will always be with us.  We trust God will keep those we love most alive and well.  But the reality is tomorrow is never promised.  No breath beyond the current is guaranteed.  If Keith was going to make the drive from Las Vegas to Los Angeles at midnight, I’d be with him every mile.

So that’s how I ended up sitting in gate C5 at McCarran International Airport, with a computer on my lap, typing this post at 10:40pm on Sunday night.  I’m excitedly awaiting my Baby’s plane to arrive so I can be by his side as he makes the journey back home.  Don’t blink.

Until tomorrow…make it a great day!

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Fawn Weaver

Founder at Happy Wives Club

Fawn Weaver is the USA Today® and New York Times® bestselling author of Happy Wives Club: One Woman's Worldwide Search for the Secrets of a Great Marriage, adopting the same name as the Club she founded in 2010. The Happy Wives Club community has grown to include more than 900,000 women in over 110 countries around the world. When she’s not blogging or working on her next project, she's happily doting over her husband of nearly eleven years, Keith.

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