Author: Wen Yi-Chun 溫羿淳
When I was young, I sat on a plastic chair in the living room, watching young singers on television perform the newest styles of music. The fast rhythms were ones I couldn’t keep up with. The streets also began to change. Air-conditioned shops started appearing, filled with all kinds of goods I had never seen before. There were more and more motorcycles on the roads, and people’s clothing gradually became more fashionable as trends took hold. Back then, I only wished to grow up quickly so that I could enjoy the happiness adults seemed to have.
But when I turned eighteen; when I truly became an adult, I regretted it. Although I gained the freedoms of adulthood, I also inherited its pressures and burdens. After growing up, I began a life of working part-time while studying, slowly learning to rely on myself. The pressure of work and school left me overwhelmed, and the weight of family responsibilities rested on my shoulders as well. I knew, and clearly understood, that once I grew up, there was no going back. No returning to the carefree days of childhood, when I could live without worries and even get things simply by reaching out my hand.
As I grew day by day, my parents grew older day by day as well. I knew that one day they would leave me, and that one day I too would grow old like them. But to the eighteen-year-old me, that still felt very far away. By the time I reached twenty-five, my parents had indeed aged. Watching their bodies no longer as healthy as before, and seeing the wrinkles on their faces gradually increase, I realized that I should cherish the time we have together even more.
Later, I got married and started a happy family of my own. I had children, and everyone was busy earning money and buying a house. During that period, I barely had any rest. Every morning before dawn, I got up to prepare breakfast, send my child to school, and then rush to work. When I returned home at night, my child was already asleep on the sofa, while the television played popular music I could no longer understand. At moments like these, I often felt that time was moving far too quickly, so fast that before I could fully savour the warmth of youth, it had already quietly slipped away.
Sometimes I think back to my younger self; the child sitting on a plastic chair, imagining how wonderful it would be to grow up quickly. Back then, I believed adulthood represented freedom and happiness. I never imagined that the adult world would be filled with responsibility and difficult choices. It was only when I began carrying the financial burden of a family that I understood how much hardship was hidden behind my parents’ once-silent backs.
From then on, I gradually learned gratitude. I no longer complained about how difficult life was, but instead tried to find traces of happiness in every small moment. Time passed swiftly, and my child grew day by day, gradually forming ideas of their own. Looking at them, I seemed to see my younger self again; that curiosity and longing for the world. As I grew older, I also began to miss the slower pace of the past. In those days, people were closer to one another. Today, society has become fast and indifferent; everyone lowers their heads to scroll through their phones, and greetings between people have been washed away by time.
Occasionally, I return to my old home and sit on the long-yellowed plastic chair at the front door, watching sunlight spill across the ground, my heart filled with an indescribable feeling.
My parents have grown old even faster. My mother’s white hair is as plentiful as snow, and my father’s steps are no longer steady. Every time I look at them, I think of the days when I depended on them. When they held my hands as I learned to walk and taught me how to write. Now, it is my turn to hold their hands and walk slowly with them. What time leaves behind on us is not only wrinkles and presbyopia, but also the love and memories we have lived through. These are marks that time cannot erase.
Now, I have finally learned to slow down. Work is still busy, but I understand the importance of taking my family for walks on weekends, putting my phone aside during dinner, and listening to my child share stories from school. Although life is ordinary, within this ordinariness lies the happiness I most want to protect. In the quiet of the night, I sometimes take out old photo albums and see my younger self. I always smile softly.
It turns out that the traces of time are not frightening at all. They simply remind me that I have tried hard to live, to love, and to be loved. I think that one day, when I too grow old, my hair white with age, if someone is willing to sit down and listen to me tell these stories, I will smile and say, “In this life, I have no regrets.” Because the traces left by time are not only etched on my face, but also engraved in my heart. They are the truest marks of my life.
小時候的我坐在客廳的塑膠椅上，看著電視裡那些年輕歌手唱著最新穎
的曲風，節奏快的我跟不上，街上也開始變得不一樣，路上開始有開著
冷氣的商店，裡面的商品齊全，是我從未見識到的，還有路上的摩托車
也越來越多，大家的衣服品味也跟著潮流慢慢變的時髦，所以以前的我
只盼著快快長大，才能去享受大人所擁有的快樂，可當我18歲時，真正
成年時，我後悔了，雖然我擁有了大人的快樂，但同時我也擁有的大人
的壓力與重擔，長大後的我開始了半工半讀的日子，我也慢慢再靠自己
生活，工作與課業壓力搞得我兩頭燒，還有家庭的重擔在身上，我知道
也明白長大就回不去了，沒辦法回歸像小時候一樣，可以每天無憂無
慮，甚至是伸手就可以拿到東西，我一天天的成長，父母也一天天的變
老，我知道有天他們會離開我，也知道有一天我也會像他們一樣老去，
但我只覺得這離18歲的我還很遙遠，到了25歲，父母也老了，眼看著
他們的身體不再像以前一樣健康，臉上的皺紋逐漸增加時，我知道，我
更應該好好珍惜在一起的時光了，後來我結婚了，有了一個幸福的家
庭，也有了孩子，大家都忙著賺錢、買房子，那段時間我幾乎沒有休
息，每天早上天還沒亮就起床，準備早餐、送孩子上學，再趕著去上
班。晚上回到家時，孩子已經在沙發上睡著，電視裡播放著我早已聽不
懂的流行音樂。我常常在這樣的時刻，突然覺得時間走得太快，快到我
還沒細細體會青春的熱度，它就已經悄悄離我而去。有時我會想起年少
的自己，那個坐在塑膠椅上、幻想未來能快快長大的小孩。那時的我以
為長大代表自由與快樂，卻沒想到長大的世界充滿責任與取捨。當我開
始背負家庭的經濟壓力時，才明白父母當年沉默的背影裡藏著多少辛
勞。那時候我也逐漸學會感恩，不再埋怨生活的不易，而是努力在每個
小小的瞬間裡找到幸福的痕跡。時間過得飛快，孩子一天天長大，也漸
漸有了自己的想法。看著他，我彷彿看見年輕時的自己，那份對世界的
好奇與憧憬。隨著年齡漸長，我也開始懷念從前那個慢節奏的年代。那
時人與人之間的距離很近，如今社會變得快速又冷漠，每個人都低著頭
滑手機，彼此的問候也被時間沖淡。我偶爾會回老家，坐在門前那張早
已泛黃的塑膠椅上，看著陽光灑在地面，心裡湧上一股說不出的感慨。
父母已經老得更快了，媽媽的白髮像雪一樣多，爸爸的腳步也不再穩
健。每次看著他們，我都會想起自己曾經依賴他們的那些日子——他們牽
著我學走路、教我寫字，如今換我牽著他們慢慢走。時間在我們身上留
下的，不只是皺紋和老花眼，還有那些經歷過的愛與記憶。那是時間無
法抹去的印記，如今的我，終於學會放慢腳步。工作依然忙，但我懂得
在週末帶家人去散步、在晚餐時放下手機，聽孩子分享學校的趣事。雖
然日子平凡，但這份平凡中有我最想守護的幸福。夜深人靜時，我偶爾
會翻出舊相簿，看到自己年輕的模樣，心裡總是微微一笑。原來，時間
的痕跡並不可怕，它只是提醒我——我曾經努力活過、愛過，也被愛過，
我想，等有一天我也老去，白髮蒼蒼時，若有人願意坐下聽我講述這些
故事，我會微笑著說：「這一生，我沒有遺憾。」因為那些時間留下的痕
跡，不僅刻在我的臉上，也刻在我心裡，那是屬於我最真實的人生印
記。