Tempus Fugit -- looking back, looking forward

  • Published
  • By Mitchell Rosenzweig
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany --   The movie tone calendar rips off the sepia colored days, clicking with that old-time sound. Days and years seem to pass as fast as seconds when you are lost in melancholy. It seems like it was just yesterday, but all the days past are yesterday. Yesterday, I walked by a desk in one of the shops and saw a calendar on the wall covered with red X's marching down the page to some unknown destiny. Really, can it be another year has flown by?

Tempus fugit, right? But not all time flies (or "flees," as it translates). Sometimes those past flashbulb moments are as rich as if they are happening right now. Times of love, sorrow, or suspense seem to etch themselves in our consciousness. We savor the good and thankfully forget most of the rest. What a burden it would be to have a perfect memory. Of course, there
are days that are prescribed to be happy: birthdays, holidays, and vacation days. People even remind us, as if we might forget: "Have a happy... or merry..." they say. Shouldn't we try and be happy every day?

Other days we are supposed to be sad, like anniversaries of deaths, 9/11, D-Day or other national holidays. But each of those days also changed our world, perhaps even more than the happy ones. Sure we should remember, but not be harnessed by the past
.
Each day is new and holds the same promise--whether it's your birthday, a national memorial day, or just a Tuesday. Our wishes for the past to be different are impossible to fulfill, but our wishes for our tomorrows are eternally full of promise.