The
Can't Wait Kid
Jackie
K. Cooper
When
I was younger, I lived on anticipation. I was always looking at
the previews of coming attractions and saying, "I can't wait
to see that." Instead of enjoying the movie I was there to
see, I got hung up on what was coming to the theater in the future.
It was just my nature to be that way.
In
the summer I would pine away for my friends at school and would
tell my mother over and over, "I can't wait for school to
start." Or when I was in school I longed for vacation time,
so I would whine, "I can't wait for school to end."
I
"couldn't wait" to get my driver's license, and I "couldn't
wait" to graduate from high school. I "couldn't wait"
to go off to college, and I "couldn't wait" to have
a girlfriend. My biggest and most repeated statement was, "I
can't wait until I am grown and nobody can boss me around."
I
said so many of the "can't wait" remarks that my mother
dubbed me "the can't wait kid." I was always living
in tomorrow and didn't relax and enjoy my present days. My mother
told me some day I would learn that the "nows" are even
more important than the "tomorrows." She always concluded
that lecture by saying, "Jackie, don't wish your life away!"
"The
can't wait kid" lived for many, many years, but one day middle
age caught up with him. In middle age you learn that the tomorrows
are going to bring old age and possibly sickness. One tomorrow
is going to bring death. Once I had that thought, the "can't
wait kid" said good-bye and went away.
Now
I savor the enjoyment of the here and now. Rarely do I look at
the calendar and wish for another season to arrive, or look at
the clock and wish for time to fly by. There are some days when
my enjoyment quotient is so high that I wish time would stand
still.
I
really like the time of life I am in now. I loved raising my kids,
but it is nice to have them grown and successful. My wife and
I can take off whenever we wish, and we have a little bit of money
to do the things we like to do. And most importantly like I wished
when I was a child - nobody can boss me around!
These
are the "golden years" and I hope they last a long time.
I am in no hurry for them to speed by. I look back at the "can't
wait kid" I was and realize I am now the "don't go man."
Days can sometimes seem to drag on forever but in retrospect the
years fly by.
Enjoy
it while you can. Smell the roses and watch the sunsets. Do all
the things that make your life rich and rewarding. Don't wish
your life away, for it goes quickly enough on its own.
***
Jackie
K. Cooper was born in South Carolina and now lives in Georgia.
He is familiar to people living in the middle Georgia area as
the "entertainment man" since his entertainment reviews
run in newspapers and are shown on television there. His short
stories have been used as commentary on Georgia Public Radio.
He also keeps active appearing as an after dinner speaker for
various events.
Cooper
has lived an exceptionally interesting life and portions of it
are contained in his first book Journey of a Gentle Southern
Man. The journey continued in Chances and Choices.
Jackie's
first two books, Journey of a Gentle Southern Man
and Chances and Choices, were reprinted and published
by Mercer University Press in July 2004. His third book Halfway
Home was published by Mercer University Press in October
2004.
Cooper
is currently at work on his fourth book, The Book Binder,
which will be published in the fall of 2006.
Visit
his website, or email
Jackie.
©
Jackie K. Cooper