Changes We Can’t Control

Every once in a while my wife and I will be driving down the street and think about some of the stores that used to be part of the towns across the main line. All the places that we remember going to as kids and even some of the stores that we would shop at when we were in high school. Those places are becoming harder and harder to find the more we drive up and down the local roads.

We were reminded of this fact when we made our way to the King of Prussia mall this past weekend. We had, no surprise, a few errands to run and a baby registry to complete (finally). It was during this trip that we decided to stop by the newly opened Dick’s Sporting Goods (their prices are still too high). Afterward, we couldn’t help but walk next door and head down the escalator to see what we could find during the final days of the Sears store being open.

I can’t recall how many times that I have been to Sears (this location in particular) over the years but it basically has been a place that I would occasionally find myself walking around throughout my life. This trip was completely different and, unfortunately, all too familiar. With the liquidation of stock in full swing, the department store had been consolidated to a small fraction of a single floor. This was, most likely, the last time that I would be walking up and down those aisles.

While I can’t really complain about getting 60+% off on items, it is still a little sad to be in the midst of forced change. The shelves were nearly barren and racks of clothes sprawled across the middle of the floor in haphazard organization. They even had prices on the shelves themselves along with the carts and displays. The world is changing around us and there is no better example of this than the retail shift that we see every day.

It always seems as though it is the places that had the best selection and prices that are closing up and moving out. From Strawbridge’s, Wannamaker’s, and Sears to Borders, Sam Goody, and Blockbuster, all the places that we remember going to on the weekends are nothing more than a memory. And now we can’t help but think of how the same kinds of changes will continue… what are the places that our son will remember from his childhood that won’t be around when he is an adult?

It is going to be interesting to see how things evolve over the next couple of decades and I wonder if it will be faster or slower than what we have already seen. While it would be nice to have these things remain a stable part of everyday life that simply is not the reality of life. Things change and all we can do is enjoy the memories and hope to make even better ones for our son. We may not be able to control the word around him but we can control how much we love him. Everything else doesn’t really matter.

The Non-Baby Errands

Trip to the DMV behind the old boarders. 

What a difference a weekend can make when it comes to getting some errands done. We went from the fun and overall enjoyment of working on our baby registry to the doldrums of having to get the car inspected and license renewed. I know, I would much rather be walking around Babies R Us than hanging out at the DMV.

However, with these essentials now out of the way it seems as though we are finally recovering from the upper cut and no longer stumbling around the ring. Our feet, while it may not seem like it at times, are finally under us and we are able to take care of the things that have been hanging over us for months. Of course, this doesn’t mean that we can relax in the coming weeks. We still have a long list of tasks to accomplish and projects to complete but at least now there seems to be some good progress being made.

Sometimes that is really all that you need to experience to start getting caught up… knowing that there is progress being made can push you to get things done, move to the next item, and the next, until you are actually ahead of things rather than fluttering your feet trying to keep from going under. Unfortunately, this is part of a cycle that we have found ourselves in over the past few years. We never really get ahead on anything it is more about catching up and falling back… bobbing up and down in the swells.

The difference now is that there are events on the horizon that are adding to both the urgency and the difficult of pushing through things. There is a storm of dichotomy just on the horizon and while there are moments when the sun peers through the clouds and turns the choppy waters into diamonds, it never lasts long and shortly after those respites of reflection we find ourselves in the pitch black looking for any glimmer of light we can find across the black blanket.

Such is the spectrum of life and the ebb and flow that we all must embrace. There are moments when you can fight to break free and there are other times when you just need to relax and let the current take you to solace. Right now there is a mix as we are insistent on trying to find a positive place and are constantly struggling to do so but also moments when we need to conserve all the energy we have so that when those times of joy do occur we can embrace them with all the love that we have.

In both instances, there is hope and we know that life has a way of working out and that G-d has a reason for everything happening around us. We may not know why, understand, or like what is going on but it all works out in one way or another. If we accept it, this can be a time when peace overcomes stress and joy dominates the darkness. We will always fight for hope but understand that we have our limits and there are boundaries to everything that we do. I for one chose to be hopeful and happy focusing on the joy that is just on the horizon.