Sea Change

“What’s this?” – Hannah Gray

Sea Change

Hannah is a vibrant young girl with lots of energy and curiosity.  She also loves to dance and spends much of her after school and weekend time learning and practicing ballet.   So, I wasn’t surprised as she rushed past me and danced up the stairs, and up to the porch toward the front door of the home we would be entering.  When her feet finished their final leap and rested on the porch I watched as she came to an abrupt halt.

Her halt led to a “V” shaped bend with her arms reaching right down to the concrete.  Her fingers reached for something wrapped in plastic. Its bright colors showing through the protective cover had caught her attention.

“What’s this?”  She called out to her parents and me as she drew it closer to her eyes.

I could see a puzzled expression consuming her face as she examined the curious object.  It was clearly something she had ever encountered during her ten or so years of living.

“It’s a phone book!”  Her mother called out.

“What’s a phone book?”  Hannah shot back.

“You’ve never seen a phone book?”   Mom said with a little lilt.

“No!  What’s it for?”  Hannah asked in earnest.

“It’s so people can find phone numbers of those they want to call.”  Her dad Larry chimed in.

“What?  Why would anyone need that?  Why don’t they just use the internet?”  Hannah responded as she put the ancient relic back down.  She now knew it to be useless.

This was the second such incident I had encountered this week.  The other occurred when I tried to explain why telephone wires were stubbed to a lot, which was for sale, to another person who looked at me as if I had said the silliest thing she had ever heard.

“Why on earth would anyone need wires for a telephone?”  She asked with a laugh.

I had to laugh too!  Not because I thought the telephone wires to be silly though.  I laughed because I could see that while this person didn’t recognize one of the most common fixtures of my lifetime, I haven’t always recognized or acknowledged how our lives and world have changed.  So, I asked myself, “Are you taking time to see and appreciate how things have changed?”

The way we live our lives has under gone a “sea change.”  We live in an age of miracles and seemingly fail to appreciate the wonder of it all.  Yet, if you think about it for a moment you’ll see that it’s a mighty fine time to be alive!

Photos of my new grandson Landon, who lives in Arkansas, magically pop up on a picture frame in my family room in Utah!  I received photos of army vehicles at JFK International Airport this week shot from my daughter Jessi’s phone and sent in seconds to the palm of my hand.  And, I get to see Annie progress through her fencing classes on the Upper East Side through the magic of Face Time and emailed/text videos!  What marvelous things, wonders to behold!

Yes, our lives have under gone a sea change.  So, let’s not forget to see life’s wonders and appreciate them.  Seeing them for the miracles they are will cause us to feel better, more hopeful and awe inspired every day.