Of everything I've ever written, I think this presentation (originally a one-minute video) is the thing that resonates most with people.

1. Once upon a time,
but not very long
ago, my daughter
was too little
to walk to school,

2. Once upon a time,
but not very long
ago, my daughter
was too little
to walk to school,
so we rode the
city bus.

3. Each morning, I tugged her along the sidewalk to the bus stop.

4. Each morning, I tugged her along the sidewalk to the bus stop.
Each morning, I gazed impatiently down Third Avenue,

5. while she stared in ecstatic wonder at the treasures in the
drugstore window.

6. I didn’t particularly
mind riding the bus,
but I viewed a day
off as a great treat.

7. I didn’t particularly
mind riding the bus,
but I viewed a day
off as a great treat.
I’d think with a ping
of relief, “Phew,
no bus ride today.”

8. Until one morning,

9. “Look, Mommy,
look! A dog!”
she exclaimed as,
she pointed out
the window at an
ordinary dog on
a leash.

10. Then suddenly it hit me.

11. Then suddenly it hit me.
This bus ride was it.

12. This was parenthood, this was
the childhood of my darling
girl, this was life itself.

13. One day—and that
day probably wasn’t
too far away—we’d
no longer be riding
the bus together.

14. One day—and that
day probably wasn’t
too far away—we’d
no longer be riding
the bus together.
And I was frittering
this time away.

15. From then on, every morning, I thought, “Thank goodness,
another day to ride the bus.”

16. Now my little girl is bigger, and we walk the ten blocks to school.
She still holds my hand, but I know this too will probably end soon.

17. “Do you remember when we used to ride the bus to
school?” I asked her the other day.

18. “I remember,” she said.
“I loved that bus ride.”

19. “So did I,” I answered.

20. The days are long,

21. The days are long, but the years are short.