In 1945:
-A first-class stamp cost 3 cents.
-The Chicago Cubs played in the World Series! (They lost to the Detroit Tigers.)
-Gene Autry, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Glenn Miller, and Bing Crosby topped the music charts.
-John Steinbeck's "Cannery Row" was published.
-ENIAC (the first all-electronic computer!) was completed.
-The first atomic bomb was detonated.
-Rod Carew, Eric Clapton, Sammy "the Bull" Gravano, Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Henry Winkler (yeah, The Fonz) were all born the same year I was.
-Pepe Lepew made his debut in a Looney Tunes cartoon.
Jim Butcher says that, "Life is a journey. Time is a river. The door is ajar."
That makes it all sound so wonderful, so sweet, so...oh, I don't know...so spiritual. Maybe. But I could tell you some horror stories from my soon-to-be 68 years. It ain't been all wine and roses. (BTW, a really good movie, "The Days of Wine and Roses," was released in 1945.)
And there has been wine and roses...great times, exciting adventures, wonderful people, outstanding children, meaningful work, love, forgiveness, grace, and on...and on. I am thankful. And very pleasantly surprised.
But time marches on. In fact, it flies...more and more quickly, as I realize how little of it I have left (compared to how much I have already experienced).
I have come to agree with Francis Bacon, Sr., who wrote:
"Begin doing what you want to do now.
We are not living in eternity.
We have only this moment,
Sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake."
Sparkling and melting. Yup, that seems about right.
No comments:
Post a Comment