it's true; time really flies (lyn)

One of the side affects of Lexapro, I’m told, is that you don’t cry.  I think that’s a pretty nice side affect, considering that I used to cry so easily.  Look at me crossly and I’d cry.  Show me a sad movie and I’d be the one in the theater drenched in tears.  Send me to a wedding, anyone’s, and I’d cry at that too.  I once even thought I’d be a great actress as I could cry on cue.  But now I never cry. 

But today I did.

I am watching the evening news and there is a segment on the class of 2010.  Without warning, I’m quietly crying.  In one more year I’ll be celebrating the class of 2011, and included in that class will be my son.  I know it’s a cliché, but truly, he’s grown up so fast.

Coincidently, today I also receive an email from iMemories, telling me that the 27 VHS and 8mm tapes I sent them a month or so ago are now digitized and available online for me to edit  into DVD’s.  So I start to watch them, and twenty years of life is magically re-experienced. 

I see myself at Lever Brothers, in hugely unattractive glasses, presenting a breakthrough toothpaste, Extra Strength Aim, to a ballroom full of eager salespeople.   I am sworn in by a "judge" and "swear to tell the tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth."  I am a senior brand manager on a revolutionary product that is  going to change the way people brush their teeth.  Because of course, everyone needs more fluoride in their toothpaste!  

I see myself at CNBC, right after we re-launched the network in 1991 (after it was merged with The Financial News Network).  At the time, senior management thought it would be a good idea to disassociate itself with CNBC's parent, NBC.  They want to focus only on Primetime.  And Primetime consists of one, three-hour, unwatchable show that airs every single night.   But still, it is so much fun.   

And there I am at Discovery in 1998 with a group of major advertisers, enjoying a trip to Sante Fe (riding llamas, biking through exotic terrain, exploring ruins, going to cooking school, and attempting to go ballooning).  All this adventure, and I’m getting paid. 

But the best videos are the ones of Alexander.  Learning to walk.  Eating solid food for the first time.  Celebrating birthdays.  Laughing that contagious baby laugh.  Crawling in Central Park.   Saying his first words.  Celebrating holidays with his great-grandparents who have since died.  Graduating Nursery School.  Then graduating 5^th Grade.  And soon, graduating high school.

Whoosh...