I need a pause button

We’ve been able to come up with medical cures for diseases that hundreds of years ago were once considered fatal; we can collect mountains and mountains of information online now with a few clicks on a keyboard, tablet or smartphone that would’ve taken years to accumulate only a few decades ago; we have cars that can drive themselves, certainly we can come up with a way to slow down time for a few minutes.

That’s not too much to ask, is it? I don’t think so.

Cher made millions in the late 1980s singing about what she would do if she could turn back time. I don’t want to turn back time, but I’d love to pump the brakes a few times.  I feel an incredible need to slow down time with my kids getting ready to go back to college and getting ready to move on with the next stage of their lives. On top of that, I feel like I’ve missed out on my summer.

How I would use a pause button

Business magnate, investor, and inventor Elon Musk seems to make headlines every other day for one reason or another. For once, I’d love to see him come up with a time-bending machine. I’m not asking for much. In fact, I know exactly how I would use this new machine over the past six months:

—I’d hit the pause button the first night all three of my kids were home this summer. I’d return to the moment my wife and I both went to bed. I remember getting into bed and thinking all was right with the world.

—I’d pause it again when in the middle of the summer, the day doesn’t matter, just any ordinary day. My job has been hectic this summer, lots of deadlines, lots of demands. I’ve handled some of these demands quite well, others not so much. I’d hit the pause button on an ordinary Wednesday or Thursday when we all managed to get together for dinner. Nothing extraordinary, just dinner with the family.

—Finally, I’d hit the pause button to this past Sunday night, the last night we were all together. We had five or six conversations going on, two or three of us all talking at once, but what mattered most was that we were all together, enjoying each other’s company.

Enjoy it while it lasts

I try to not get too needy. My kids have their own lives. They have their own dreams and obligations, but I still wouldn’t mind having a pause button, if nothing else as a reminder to myself to enjoy every single second of our time together.

You’re guaranteed nothing in this life.

I want to enjoy my family while it lasts. So Elon, get moving, I want my pause button.