The Two Hour Thief

The Two Hour Thief
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Photo by Shauna Hoffman

I turned off my computer and looked at the clock. My heart stopped! Much to my horror two hours were missing! No, it couldn't be 10:00 PM. It must be 8:00! Let me check my phone. I will find it there. The two precious hours of my life will be back, right there on my beloved iPhone. Right? No. There were those numbers...those dreaded numbers.... those honest numbers. 10:00 PM. It was true. A thief had stolen 2 hours of my life. In desperation I retraced my steps. Let's see. I was on my brother's Facebook page looking for the video of him and his late wife. Soon it was pictures of food. Food I wanted right then, barbecue, sushi, three layered chocolate cake smothered in whipped cream. Then I vaguely remember going to the refrigerator and coming back with cold mac'n cheese. Really? Not what I was hoping for. Next thing I remember I clicked on a video of a laughing cat. No, it was a baby bear and a dog. Or, was it the hilarious hootin' and hollerin' drunk Weatherman? All I know is that when I clicked on that video, a whole world of videos showed up on the screen. Videos that were calling me. Videos that must be seen. Now!

You know, that one video of the returning Marine surprising his son? That had me crying those "happy tears". Oh, and the video of the dog at the grave of his master... reminded me of all the animals I have lost and loved. And the montage of people from all over the world dancing with strangers reminded me that the human spirit is much closer than the world that holds it. And the videos of couples kissing...old, young, gay, straight, made me feel confident in my truth that Love is Love.

And then it hit me. No one stole those two hours of my life! Those precious hours I was on my own roller coaster of emotion and truth, laughter and peace. My computer generated, stress relieving vacation from all that was my day, was the hours from 8:00-10:00 PM! Then it happened. I got a flashback of the one video I had skipped in a flurry of mouse clicking. The one on Facebook where it all started... the one of my brother and his beloved wife who had just passed away. So in that very moment it happened. I decided to let the thief back into my night.

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