Plain Talk

MANY of us live as if we wondered when life was going to begin. It isn't always clear just what we are waiting for, but we persist in waiting so chronically that life slips by--finding us still waiting for something that has been going on all the time. There are fathers waiting until other obligations are less demanding to become acquainted with their sons. But one of these days these sons are going to be grown and gone, and the best years for knowing them may also be gone. There are mothers who, at their earliest convenience, sincerely intend to be more attentive to their daughters--who are going to be more companionable. But time passes, distance widens, and children grow up and away.