Bookends

“Time it was
And what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence
A time of confidences

“Long ago it must be
I have a photograph
Preserve your memories
They're all that's left you.” ~ Paul Simon

Bookends, Left Side – My week had a reverse sequence of life cycle events.  Monday morning began with attending the funeral of one of our closest friend’s mother.  Saying goodbye to a loved one is always difficult, and like the song above, photographs and memories (also a Jim Croce song) are all that we have left.  While it does not matter if our loved one is sick for a long time, or the end comes quickly, we are never fully “ready” when the moment comes.  When my Mom died, she was diagnosed with cancer 8 months before she left us.  At that one single moment, there would be no more calls, no more visits, no more time spent together. 

Bookends – Monday starts the week, Friday ends the week; those two days provide a bookend to our workweek.  Most people that I know dread the start of the week, but are much more excited and happier at the end of the workweek, a mindset built around, as the Loverboy song proclaims, “Everybody’s working for the weekend.”  While I tend to look forward towards the weekend, I am usually happy when Monday comes, as in my mind I have already begun to think about the things that I will accomplish during the week, so that when the weekend comes, I can have a clear mind for the time spent with family and friends.

Bookends – This is a term, where sometime in the near future, youngsters will be perplexed as to how this came about.  Many years ago, I remember receiving in a grab bag, the gift of Batman light-up bookends.  It was cool, and I used it for a short time.  They would have been great to hold up books on a dresser, or a partially filled bookshelf.  In the age of eBooks, Kindle and Nooks, the age of bookends is going the way of the adding machine – you can still occasionally find them, but relegated under the title of novelty item, or even antiques.

Bookends, Right Side – Friday night, we attended the marriage of a friend and fellow band member’s daughter.  It was a wonderful ceremony, held outside, on the edge of a rolling hill and the Hudson River as the backdrop.  For the newlywed, this is “a time of innocence”, with all the promises and dreams of a long, wonderful life together.  For the two of them, upon completing their vows, they have begun an exciting journey, filled with the expectations of building a family and of their spending a lifetime together.  The reverse life cycle this week, for me, helped to reinforce that there is always hope for a brighter tomorrow (optimistic future).