Last night I decided I wanted to fire up the grill. I opened the door and immediately realized I needed my hoodie, and, after obtaining said hoodie, I stepped out onto the balcony and I simply stopped and smelled the air.
Fall has a rather unique scent if you ask me. Oddly enough you can really smell the leaves, Brandon keeps saying its mold, I usually tell him to shut up and stop ruining my moment lol. And bonfires, someone always seems to have a fire going in the fall. Fall smells so...good! If I could trap a scent in a jar that would be it. So there I was last night, my trusty charcoal grill cooking away, someone had a bonfire going, and the smell of the leaves...all three of those combined created one of those moments I'll never forget.
Theres always excitement in the air during fall, its football season of course. Aside from the Mountaineers and the Cowboys, I dont really watch much football, but I get just as excited as others. Great time with friends, watching a great game, friendly banter over favorite teams. Good food, good drinks...its a great time of year.
Once upon a time Corey told me something, one of those things you cant help but sit and think about. His favorite season was spring. I remember exactly what we were doing, exactly where we were, and exactly what he said.
As usual it was a day we randomly decided to drive somewhere, so I put on my jacket, hopped in his car, and off we went. Driving down franklin pike near the church, theres this one area that gets so pretty when the leaves are just starting to come out on the trees. We drove through that spot in silent awe and then we pulled into the church parking lot. He stopped the car and he just looked at me, and yet again he spoke with the wisdom beyond that of any eighteen year old boy. He looked at me and said "You know, people who live a full life will only see an average of 70 springs? It seems so long as we live, but so short when you put it in a number. Nobody really appreciates the change, its another motion of life for them. They dont notice the leaves starting to come back, flowers starting to bloom, baby animals being born. They dont realize its getting warmer. Until one day they wake up and then, to them, its like it happened over night. They missed out on the true beauty of watching it happen."
I looked around that day and saw everything in new light. And when I got home, I walked to the field behind my house and there were calves running around. Everyday more and more seemed to be coming around. I began to not need my winter coat and I was able to wear my jacket, then my hoodie, then just a t-shirt. I watched the flowers come up, then bud, then bloom. And I realized what he was talking about. Corey knew he would never have a long "average" life...where most people could celebrate 50-70 springs, he only celebrated 22, and he knew that would be the case. He didn't have time to take advantage of nature in its most precious state. And he made me realize that life is short, and God gives us such beautiful things that we hardly seem to notice.
I still notice the spring, and the winter, and the summer...I pay attention to the finer details of everything, but like the way Corey watched his favorite season, he taught me how to watch mine.
So your challenge from me, for the memory of a boy with wisdom beyond his years, watch the beauty of the change, appreciate it, don't take advantage of it, you never know it may be the last time you ever see the change.
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