Sunday night was marked by the TV shows Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, Marlin Perkins’ Wild Kingdom, and Lassie. Then thoughts returned to school on Monday morning. The weekend had gone by rapidly, as they all have. This time in October, thoughts were on birthdays and Halloween. Then came Thanksgiving and the boss of all holidays, Christmas. Christmas was another world. Christmas Trees and decorations throughout the town. Santa Claus is coming to your house. Neva J singing, ‘Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, will you please put a penny in the old man’s hat. If you haven’t got a penny, a haypenny will do. If you haven’t got a haypenny, God bless you.

I looked at the photos of my classmates at our 50th reunion and instantly saw them as the children we were over 50 years ago. They are frozen in time in my mind’s eye. They have not aged. I remembered their kindness and good humor. I hear the infectious laughs. I recall their enthusiastic cheers for the Eldorado Eagles. When I saw a photo of those who are no longer with us, I was saddened. I could hear the ‘Forever Young’ speak to me as if we were sitting in class. I could see their youthful smiles and hopes for the future.

Life is a mystery. We are young for a moment. We know our moment is special. At times, we do not realize that we are in the midst of our moment while we are waiting for it to begin.

The stage is set. We are in the wings waiting to walk on. We have learned our lines. We have our costume in place. The photographer widens the aperture. The Play is happening while we wait in the wings. The wings are part of the Play. Everything is a scene in the production. Do we hope to start living while life is progressing?

We grow older, but our hearts do not. We love and are loved. We hope and fear and pray. We want to get our part right. We want our lines to count. We want to understand the Secret…