When the ball began to drop in New York City during the final seconds of December 31, 1986, crossing us over into a new year called 1987, I was too young to stay up and watch. But I do have a very vivid memory from the next morning.
I was coloring, and since I had just learned to read, I was enjoying learning the names of my Crayola crayons. These included more than the classic rainbow shades. I also had peach, periwinkle, and not to be undone in creativity, orange-red and red-orange.
While coloring, I asked my Mom a strange question:
“Mom, when will it be 1987 again?”
She looked confused, and I don’t blame her.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s 1987 this year. How many years will it take to be 1987 again?”
We went round and round — perhaps ironically — before she understood what I was getting at. I had assumed that our keeping of time was somehow cyclical. It might take a very long while, but someday, I figured, it would be 1987 all over again.
She finally said, “Oh, it’s only going to be 1987 once. Just one time. Next year it will be 1988, and the years will keep getting bigger. We will have 1987 all of this year, but then it will never be 1987 again.”
This made me a little sad.
I was thinking about that again this morning. I’m not saying that December 1, 2025 is going to be the most significant day of our lives, but it is only going to be December 1, 2025 once. Move over, YOLO. IOTO — It’s Only Today Once.
Sure, maybe it’s not the most meaningful day ever. I confirm this as I look out the window at the gray sky. But if we only get this day one time, we might as well not waste it on things that don’t matter or that pull us away from the things that matter most.
IOTO.
—Renee Roederer
Smuggling Grace 