Old Man Time

Day after day, I see the same old man on the train. No matter what the weather is, he always seems to be in the best mood every day as he stares out the window and gazes into the sky with a smile on his face. Many years have passed for him, but that is where his wisdom lies. Old man time knows how the world works, knows how to read people, and give insight to any situation; but his knowledge took years and years to obtain.

He has seen many devastating events that have shaped him to be the person he is today and he shares that knowledge with only a select few, not because other people do not deserve it, but he sees something in only a select few. In all honesty, his whole background is a mystery to me because when he talks about stuff he never goes into detail. For example, we will be talking and all the sudden he will be like “oh yeah I remember when….” and he stops and just smiles. It was frustrating at times because I had no idea what he was talking about, but luckily I was one of the select few he shared his wisdom with.

We have spoken many times while riding the train, but one particular day will always be etched in my mind. I was on my way back from an audition for this school I wanted to attend, but things did not work out very well for me. He knew I was down about something so he approached me and asked, “What’s wrong? Why do you let events control the way you feel? “I looked back at him confused. Somehow he knew what had happened. I am not sure how, but he knew. I asked him, “What are you talking about?” and he said “You know what I am talking about.” There was silence for a few seconds and he began to talk again. He said, “You know you did a great job because not trying at all is true failure.” I said,” If I did so well, why didn’t I get in?” He came back again without hesitation. “Everything happens for a reason and we may not know what that reason is right then and there, but there is one for everything if we search for it and value it.” “We have to learn to be flexible in our approach to things and cannot give up if one thing does not work. We must learn from it, and figure out what else we can do to accomplish our dreams.” His stop was coming up and I wanted him to keep talking, but there was no time and his last words to me were, “Really think about that and don’t settle for less than you deserve.” He left, and there I was on the train staring out into the dark sky with curiosity.

The next day I got up, but it was weird, something drew me to the morning paper. I sat down and on the front cover there he was. Mitch Harrison, the famous guitar player, dies at 85. Stunned by the headline I could not believe that was him. He was one of the best guitar players to ever grip a guitar and I met him so many times and had no idea who he was. I will never forget the wisdom he shared with me and I will cherish that particular time on the train forever.