Time and Timelessness

This weekend, we volunteered to keep the grandkids overnight so their parents could take a day off and celebrate their anniversary. The time is winding down and mom and dad should be here before long. Both of the kids are asleep…one in his bed and the other is sacked out on the couch a few feet away from me. It’s been an interesting time.
We’ve kept the kids before, and we always enjoy doing so. However, it’s a break in our routine, and it is kind of tough sometimes to remember that we have others we have responsibility for, and that we just can’t get up and leave, or even just go to the bathroom.
We’ve had several weekends leading up to this one where we either went somewhere, had someone at the house, or had some other responsibility of some kind. I told the wife that I’d really like to have a weekend where we had no responsibilities like that scheduled. Next weekend won’t quite do, as she will be gone to some kind of meeting, and I have agreed to substitute at a Sunday School class next Sunday. I’m sure that by the weekend, there will be something else we’ll need to do.
I always wondered how retired people spent their time. We’re not retired, but I’m getting an idea of how that might go should one or both of us be fortunate enough that we could retire. I suspect that we will be busy more of the time than not, assuming our health holds out and we have the financial means to do a few things from time to time. In a way, I look forward to that time as I know there are things we could do during the week that had to do with “church work” that we just cannot do now. A lot certainly needs to be done, and it seems that retired folks do a lot of it, probably due in great part to the fact that they have more time in which to do it.
Besides, remaining active like that, they say, keeps one healthier and happier than if one just vegetates in the house all the time. Sometimes, I like to veg out, but it never lasts very long and I’m ready to go after awhile. That’s one reason I don’t like to be ill, besides the obvious of not feeling well. Those four walls and ceiling get awfully old after just a short time and I’m ready for some new views of the world.
One of these days, it won’t matter for me any more. I’ll not be concerned with illness, retirement, or having something to do. I truly look forward to that time (or timelessness, to be more exact), and trust you do too.