This Is How It Will Be

Time goes by like a snap and a flash,
but it wasn’t always so.
In the days of the child, when wonder ruled,
Time would stop to say “Hello”,
sit for awhile, share a laugh or two,
wave goodbye ’til the next time through.
Time was always my friend.

And then one day it occurred to me
that something was not the same.
My best friend, Charlie, got sick and died,
a random act with no one to blame.
It was then that I knew, with certainty,
that the very same fate awaited me.
Death would come someday.

And now, after decades have come and gone,
my mirror doesn’t lie.
Who is this man who stares back at me?
And with a longing sigh,
I answered the knock on my front door post.
And guess who just dropped by!
There stood Time and a second man,
someone I didn’t know.
We talked and laughed as old friends will,
until they had to go.

But as he turned to leave my home,
Time reached out and took my hand.
“It’s time, my, friend, for us to go.
Do you understand?”
And in that moment, it was clear to me
that Time and Death were sent to be
my escorts into eternity.

By the way, there’s one thing you might want to know:
I can tell you now it is true…it is so…
The three of us walked hand in hand
across this remarkably beautiful land,
along a path of moonbeams and light
into a realm beyond human sight.

And there was Charlie, waiting for me.
So, don’t be afraid. This is how it will be.