Marching On

March 5, 2024

Well, we got an extra day this year, right? What did you do with your extra day on February 29? Ours was windy and cold and rather than grilling out, I fixed some hamburgers in our woodstove for supper which I love doing, if only because it warms me up as I sit there and turn them.

Our February is always packed with birthdays and this year it was truly special when our only granddaughter turned one year old. She is definitely, and happily, growing up. Though we live a couple hours away, we get to watch her five days a week on the camera at her daycare, holding our breath when she stands up and wavers for a split second before plopping back down on the daycare floor. Walking will come. She is exploring her world and making tentative moves towards playing with the others her age.

I always feel like once we get to March, the “new year” is truly marching along and as we age, our own time on earth begins to get shorter.

A husband-wife duo I know recently recorded a new number they wrote called “Evening Will Come.” More on that in a minute. That could sound morbid but with my husband now celebrating his 70^th birthday (and don’t let me fool you, I’m older), we are truly looking at our later years. Retirement is great but arthritis is not, and of course it is hitting us greater with every passing year. Or month even. My two little fingers, or maybe “pinkies” as we call them, are stiffening up by the day. I think it was from all this typing over 43 years at the office doing what I’m doing right now. (I’m reminded of my recent blog post on learning to type!) I practice bending the pinkies as often as I can.

At this stage of life, we’ve all lost precious and beloved and sometimes “too young” friends and family members. My husband’s family lost a cousin a couple weeks ago, and we really wanted to go to the memorial service. But it was 1100 miles away in Nebraska. Siblings also wanted to go, but they had to deal with their physical difficulties in facing a 17-hour drive, 34-hours roundtrip. None of us from the east were able to go, but sent flowers, love and prayers.

I remember years ago my husband, one brother, and their dad jumped in a car and drove 700 miles (about 11 hours) to get to Montgomery, Alabama, where they picked up one aunt so they could all go to another aunt’s funeral in Corinth, Mississippi, 250 miles more. They turned around several hours late—after the service—and drove all night to get back home to Virginia the next day. (The aunt from Montgomery was driven home by someone else.) The main driver on that trip (and owner of the car) desperately needed a nap on the way home, so at one point my husband took over the wheel. It began raining and cars started sliding every which way on the freshly wet and greasy four-lane highway. He still remembers feeling, that even though his hands were on the steering wheel, God’s hands—or Someone’s—were on the car to help them get through that without a wreck.

But back to how the calendar just keeps marching on. Wasn’t it just New Year’s Day a moment ago, and then whack, we were celebrating Valentine’s Day and so on. The holidays keep marching on and so so soon it will be summer and you know, Christmas.

I mentioned a precious and appropriate song written, sung and recorded by neighbors of ours (who are not just “some neighbors” but musicians who could and should be strumming their tunes in Nashville or New York City). Known as the Clymer & Kurtz Band, they harmonize beautifully while also playing guitars or piano. They are also raising a family. The love and commitment shines from their eyes. I’m sharing a link to their YouTube channel so you can hear/see it yourself, but the lovely chorus goes like this:

All I hear is my name on your tongue
All I see is your face when we were young
All I know is evening will come
Evening will come.

Evening will come for all of us. And Someone is still watching out for us.

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We can look at evening as a welcome time of day: time to rest, nap, read, watch TV. How do you feel about evenings? What is your best time?

Are you happy for March to come? What signs of spring have you welcomed?