Kenny Chesney has a new song out called “Don’t Blink.”

Even if you aren’t a country music fan you might want to listen to this one.

It’s about how time passes by in the blink of an eye.

I always try to be conscious of the passing of time because I know how precious my time with kids is.

But this past Friday night I blinked and instead of forward I seemed to travel backward.

There in a car on the field at Cathedral Homecoming all three of my children drove sedately around the field.

There was no fighting over the radio and no fussing over who had what window. The two oldest contently allowed their baby sister to have the spotlight as one of the homecoming maids.

I had even given Jan Scarborough the heads up on the intercom to watch for them in the car and get them if there were any signs of a sibling squabble.

Matthew had come home to walk her and was headed straight back to Oxford for a college game.

Holly had driven 8 hours from Atlanta to be here for her.

My parents were there and so was my father-in-law but no Granma Joyce.

That was the first family thing she wasn’t here for and that was hard. And then I blinked.

And it was half-time. Matthew walked Emily out onto the field and stood there with her as I thought back over all the many times my kids have pulled together for each other and how lucky they are to have each other. As the other girls walked out I blinked again.

There was Matthew walking his older sister out on the field for homecoming at Trinity.

The first time wasn’t a problem. The second time he had to miss half of a high-school football game, but he never uttered a word about it.

Of course Emily was there as were all four of the grandparents. For those two events my late husband had not been gone long and I spent most of the time blinking away tears.

There is no way to explain to young adults or new parents how this seeing backward phenomenon works.

When you are studying to get through college, struggling to get going in a new job, or walking the floor with a crying baby you think these days will never end and you will never get on with life.

The problem is life gets on with or without you. And you have only two choices. You can be involved and live life to the fullest or wish away the time and wake up one day and find yourself in a different place.

One of my favorite sayings is “Life is what happens while you are making plans.” And that is definitely the truth.

Life moves on no matter what is going on for us.

Don’t wait to tell your children and loved ones how much you love them and how much they mean to you.

Don’t wait to take a trip or have an adventure.

Embrace the world and the changes it brings with it every day and don’t blink.

Christina Hall can be reached at christina.hall@natchezdemocrat.com.