Time and Treasures
by Dr David Davis
Time is a beast that will either chase you toward or away from the better things in life.
When I was growing up, television was just coming into its own. Geez… I can’t believe I am that old.
I spent my earlier years listening to the radio. With the radio, you can do other things: build model cars (who does that any more?) or work on a puzzle.
The radio station in Oklahoma that everyone listened to was KOMA, which was powerful enough to go all across the Sooner state. Every teenager across the state listened as it played the most popular music of the day.
Chubby Checker brought us “The Twist.” And the most legendary music group that is still going today, the Rolling Stones, who belted out “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” as well as other songs that they have in their arsenal of hits that are still being played today.
Mick Jagger (80) and Keith Richards (80) still represent us old folks as they prance around on stage to a packed audience. I can imagine one day, Mick will be prancing across the stage with the aid of a walker.
Looking back, I’m caught off guard by what I used to deem important and by the things I treasured. I don’t treasure possessions as much as I used to unless you count my highly prized 45 r.p.m. records, cassettes, and CDs, which number more than 700. (Some of us will have to explain to the digital generation the difference between 33 1/3s and 45s).
Now, I have become a time-grabber. I treasure friendships, old and new. Time has taught me that friendships are the spice rack of life. Some of them you see every day and others only occasionally, but they are nice to have when needed.
Time has taught me not only the value of having friends but of being a friend. When someone needs me, I’m not in as much of a hurry as I was in the past. Over the years, I’ve learned that the things I thought were demanding and important will still be demanding and important — next week.
This past summer, I made it a priority to spend time with some of my grandchildren on a personal basis. My 7-year-old granddaughter Abby (AKA – My Sack of Sugar) and my 5-year-old granddaughter Leighton (AKA – My Little Princess) made it a weekly event to go to Old McDonald’s, Firehouse Subs in Silverlake, and Chick-fil-A.
They would sing “Old McDonald Had a Farm” as we navigated to the restaurant to get their Happy Meal and play in the playroom. They made it a point to have one of my daughters “call Pops” to remind me of our weekly date.
Two of my grandsons went with me and the girls this summer before they had to return to Qatar, where they now live, as my youngest son is an Engineer with Chevron/Phillips, and he’s building a refinery in that country.
I have learned to treasure relationships above worldly things. But I still have many things I hold near and dear to my heart.
One can’t come into my office at home without seeing old, yellowed papers with pictures my kids drew in school, with the word “Dad” scrawled below them in crayon. I have various drawings with the words “I love you, Daddy” pinned to my bookshelf. Now — artwork from my nine grandchildren has joined my collection of treasures.
When it is time for me to leave this earth, they will find the many Father’s Day cards stuck between books or on the shelves that I deem as important papers. They will also find some valuable baseball cards that I have treasured since I was a young boy, including several of Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Willie Mays, Yogi Berra, etc., that have some monetary value.
Among my treasures include my Eagle collection (about 25 figures), newspaper clippings of my high school and college football and baseball games, as well as my travels across America when I was speaking to thousands of young people in our public schools regarding choices in life. Remnants of my 15 trips to India. They will also find on my bookshelf close to a dozen books that I have written.
My kids have accused me of being a hoarder, but they will find that I have kept many of their things — baby teeth, report cards, birthday cards to dad, school pictures, etc.
I guess what I want to say to all young people is to take it from those who are closer to the end of the road than you: Let time take you not to the good things of life but to the best: Relationships and God.
Old friend Robert said, “To everything, there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
Email: drdaviddavis@yahoo.com
www.reporternewssports.com
Twitter: @drdavis111
