I had the honor of knowing Marlin Smith Perkins and yes, I can say, she was my friend. In fact, she was everyone’s friend.
At the service earlier this week honoring her life, the poem below was in the program noted as one of her favorite readings. You may have seen it as it’s been circling the internet since 1999 as a plea (and hoax) from a (fictitious) dying girl. In fact, the poem is real, written more than 20 years ago by David L. Weatherford, a child psychologist from Tennessee.
Whatever the origin, for Marlin the message rang so true that her friends and family knew how important it was to her. In fact, it was how she lived her life.
Life is not a race. Do take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.
I can not change all those lost moments with my family or my friends but I can change how I move forward. What better reason do you need to Stop, Look, Listen and Just Breathe?
Slow Dance
Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down. Don’t dance so fast. Time is short. The music won’t last.
Do you run through each day on the fly?
When you ask, “How are you?” Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running though your head?
You’d better slow down. Don’t dance so fast. Time is short. The music won’t last.
Ever told your child, “We’ll do it tomorrow”? And in your haste, not seen the sorrow?
Ever lost touch, let a good friendship die ‘cause you never had time to call and say, “Hi”?
You’d better slow down. Don’t dance so fast. Time is short. The music won’t last.
When you run so fast to get somewhere, you miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift…thrown away.
Life is not a race. Do take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.
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