When you reach the point where you can see the mistakes you made 20 years ago,

just imagine what today's will look like, 20 years down the road.

So read first, THEN venture forth and fall into the same starry-eyed, ill-advised traps I did!

Create good memories for today's youth ..

This week's tip:

"I was once like you"

I once asked my Grandma if she remembered being young. She said

"I'm STILL young! I'm just trapped inside an old woman's body!'

I've thought about that often since.

Sure, I remember when she couldn't recognize me.

But I also remember her sitting & watching a "Polka Party" on TV,

waving her cane, tapping her foot and asking "Don't you just feel like dancing?"

Youth is behind me --

But it holds so many glorious memories it's hard to forget.

Our pictures weren't videos,

they were taken with box-cameras in black & white.

But when I look through them, they come alive.

I can smell the sweaty horse I was sitting on.

I can feel the bitter wind as I was carrying firewood.

I hear the whir of the wind-up toy

and the spinning gears in my new pocket watch.

When I see a picture of thanksgiving dinner,

my eyes guide me to the home-made bread

and I can smell the yeast.

And it's not just youth --

When I visit my sister, we laugh about the fights we had!

My kids remind me how hard I made them work.

And what lousy wages they got.

And I joke with my cousin about poaching fish.

And I remember some REAL blunders.

And I still blame farm chores for

interrupting the best fishing hours.

 

Later on in life --

is the time to get together & mend fences,

confess your long-held secrets with old chums,

to widen one's horizons and overlook petty differences,

to select a long-range plan for ones time here

and learn about other things & places from everyone you meet.

And finally, the whole picture starts to make sense --

 

You begin to realize that people are the same everywhere --

We all survived childhood,

we all take pride in things,

we all lead lives and are productive,

we all have love, memories, friends, regrets,

arguments, grudges, hard lessons & advice.

And if nobody listens, it really doesn't matter --

 

Because Grandma was right --

Adults, my friend,

really ARE just kids trapped in grown-up bodies.

And after all, kids don't have much of an attention-span.