Timeless Relations
A ray of light shone through the slit of my eyelids causing a slight pain. As I opened my eyes and my pupils struggled to adjust to the light, a Blue Angel ripped through the sky above me with incomprehensible speed. I watched my mother and father conversing on the aft of the boat while my sisters, giggling together, dangled their legs over the bow. Countless boats, filled with families and friends enjoying each other’s company, anchored in Lake Erie around us. Another Angel soared past, causing a belated but nevertheless deafening sound. I thought about how much the world has changed, how quickly it moves, and how little we, as humans, enjoy the one thing time cannot alter: relationships.
Pilots in their jets flew by at high-speeds with instantaneous altitude changes and swift turns. They traveled fast, faster than any human being or aircraft ever manufactured before. The other spectators and I stared on. At that moment, our lives seemed comparatively uneventful and slow. These people of practical affairs, casually, joyfully, and whole-heartedly listened to each other as the airborne acrobats performed above. How simple these times seemed compared to the trials, training, and skills required of the men hundreds of feet above traveling at record breaking speeds.
As a passing Blue Angel reached supersonic speed, my life seemed to slow down. I realized the beauty of time, especially time spent with others. Just as the Blue Angels speed by, so do our daily lives. Technology stresses speed and instant gratification. Cell phones have taken once heartfelt, genuine goodbyes and turned them into triple character text messages, such as “cya!” People have personal connections through cyberspace. They no longer have conversations, but rather exchange voicemail transactions. Companies advertise faster service, next day installation, on demand videos, and high-speed internet on the go.
While lying on the boat rocking us back and forth, I marveled over society today. What happened to friendly consumer service, quality installation, and a genuine desire to make others happy? Everything now originates from convenience rather than from devoting our priceless time to others and to building lifelong relationships.
Lifestyles change with time. Technology, language, music, and fashion, they all change. But one thing that never will change is people and their relationships. Parents love their children the same in contemporary times as they did thousands of years ago. Likewise, children now and children of medieval periods love their parents equally. A common connection among our world’s cultures is interpersonal connections. One era is connected to another by relationships. Romance novels, such as Gone with the Wind, are timeless stories with which all people can relate. Friends and family have played significant roles in our lives for centuries; however we do not appreciate them enough. Why not treasure the one thing time has not changed? Humans will always need love, affection, and understanding.
A thunderous sound roared around me. The Blue Angels passed overhead, this time together. I sat up and rested my back against a life-line on the side of the boat. The six Solos assembled into their standard diamond formation to form a family of aircraft. They flew as one unit performing barrel rolls and flips. I felt sorrow as the air show approached its end, yet renewed by my fresh outlook on the world. I stood up to join my sisters at the bow and sat beside them. They turned, their eyes met mine and I smiled. Eager not to be excluded a moment more from my family, I added a comment and contributed to the laughter filling the front of the boat. I kicked my feet back and forth as my sisters did. Our six legs moved forward and back in unison as the six Angels flew past together one last time.