Over Time

*Brad Post*

While relaxing in Arkansas, I read Over Time, by Frank Deford. He was a sports journalist/writer for Sports Illustrated and many other papers/magazines. He also has a sports segment on NPR. It was a great read for me.

As I read, I got to thinking about what happens to people over time. 

The book, and my summer graduate courses reference that highly successful people (especially professional athletes) often suffer from low self esteem when their careers (or identifying talent/feature)  are over (lost).

Over time we lose the ability to do what has defined us.

When I remember Grandpa Markowitz, I think of his voice. That voice had given hundreds or thousands of hours of lectures as a professor. He lost his after a laryngectomy.

Before he lost his voice, he would record hours of video (mostly of  his grandchildren). The videos were always narrated by his calm and smooth speech, meticulously describing the scene. His narration (in my memory) would make Ken Burns (PBS documentarian) jealous. 

After his surgery, his ability to communicate was impaired, his peaceful voice gone. Days, weeks, and months (maybe years) of frustration (possibly embarrassment) followed as he adjusted to his mechanical voice. Something he had been great at (known for), was suddenly taken away.

Over time the same happens to all of us, in some way.

I used to be able to run several miles at a pretty decent pace. Now I struggle to run even one (my best mile time was in the 5:10 range). For me it is very embarrassing (frustrating, saddening, annoying, upsetting) to have gotten so far out of shape, to not be able to do something I used to excel at.

Over time I have seen older men and women, who were once great in many ways, fail to do things (mind and body) that used to come easy to them. I saw the same expression on their face as my grandfather had when he first started using his "new voice". That expression fills me with pain.

Over time you realize you aren't as good as you once were. 

Over time you feel your identity slipping away.

Over time you can redefine yourself.

Over time you can listen, smile, cry and laugh at stories told by once mighty men and women.

Over time you can give to make life better for those who follow.

Too bad life doesn't have overtime.