Notes from Jackson Street: ‘I gotta go’ defined through the years
Pictured above are the SONS of Thunder.
By CORBY CARLIN WINTERS, Marketing/Public Relations, Winters Media & Publishing Inc.
“I Gotta Go” seems to be what I hear a lot of lately.
“I Gotta Go” can be painful words to hear. Sometimes they can be cute, like the time I said, “I gotta go” take a spin on a four-wheeler!
“I Gotta Go” can mean different things depending on the circumstances. And it definitely means different things at different ages of one’s life.
For Winters and me the progression of the phrase “I Gotta Go” has been a little bit like this …
At two years of age, when the SONS would say “I gotta go,” that meant “I gotta pee and I gotta pee now.” Needless to say, Winters and I were quick to respond to that “I gotta go..”
When they were 10, the SONS would likely roll their eyes and say with a perturbed tone, “I gotta go” as they jumped out of the car. Clearly, I was holding them up, holding them back or holding up traffic. Then they would quickly dash off and I would just shake my head in disbelief.
In their teen years, the SONS said things like “Mom, I gotta go! I gotta go because I am playing my video game and I will die because I can’t pause. I have gotta go get back to the virtual world and fast.”
Now, one has “gotta go” command his tank platoon in the U.S. Army; the middle has “gotta go” to work; the third has “gotta go” see his girlfriend.
It is painful realizing your sweet little boys are becoming men and your heart tightens when they say, “Mom, I gotta go, (fill in the blank)”
The fact is sometimes we “gotta go” because we simply have to. Sometimes we want to. Sometimes we must. Sometimes we need to.
The reality is that daughters become women, sons turn into men, parents age and pass away. Sometimes friends are there for us and sometimes they are not. Sometimes spouses say “I am done … I gotta go.”
Sometimes we are blessed with the easy decisions of life, like I gotta go to the grocery store, I gotta go get one eye contact not two. I gotta go for a walk, I gotta clean my house, I gotta go kiss my SONS good night and Winters too.
Life is so short my dear friends, and sadly we often waste precious energy and time on insignificant and unimportant things. But as long as we have breath to breathe we have the opportunity to make sure we make the most out of the moments we have with the ones we love.
We can focus on the significant things of life, because before we know it, in the blink of an eye, those we love will say “I gotta go.”
