All About Time

I remember not too long ago when a friend of mine lost his father to cancer, he talked of his only consolation being that at least his dad and mom would be together.

But it's what he said next that stuck with me. "Neil, it's just me and my sisters. There's no one in front of us now."

I guess what got me thinking of that conversation was hearing that two icons I grew up with --Gregory Peck and David Brinkley -- had died. They were both of my parents' generation and like my parents, they're gone now.

It seemed like yesterday that they were vibrant and part of our culture. Then they got old, and were suddenly out of our culture. And then, they were no more, and completely gone from our culture.

It got me thinking about time and how quickly it goes. And about my own life, grandparents, and aunts and uncles, my mother and father. My mother's friends. My father's friends. They were once my world. One by one, they have left this world.

The people who dominated my past, are no longer part of my present. Like my friend, there are very few in front of me.

At least we have Gregory Peck's movies and David Brinkley's books and old news footage. But as time goes on, fewer will care. Fewer still will watch. And another generation will move forward.

It's all about time. What we had and didn't appreciate when we had it. And what we have, and won't appreciate. Until we lose it.

Watch Neil Cavuto's Common Sense weekdays at 4 p.m. ET on Your World with Cavuto.