Yesterday when I was young

Still stuck in the 50s


I'm not sure what is going on with me lately. It might be the fact I'm getting older and for some reason I'm stuck in the fifties again -- rethinking those days, back when life was so simple, not at the time mind you, because at the time everything seemed complicated.

But now as I look back at those problems of adolescents  -- of which I thought were so hard to deal with at the time, well it turns out those problems seem comical compared to the obstacles and bumps in the road I have faced -- we all have faced -- over the last 60 years or so.

I kinda get the idea my readers feel the same way.

I remember such things as the first dance I went to in middle school when the boys lined up on one side of the gym and the girls on the other. It would be the end of the world if I walked across the gym floor, asked the young lady to dance,  only to hear the word "no."

Somehow I got over the fear, because as it turned out, by the early 1960s, I was always the first one on the dance floor, so eventually someone said, "yes."

I've kept on dancing ever since.

As I ramble down the highway these days, I have started turning the dial on my truck radio and have found myself listening to stations which continuously play tunes from the 60s, 50s and even the 40s, for goodness sakes. What is up with me?

I also find myself sitting on the sofa inside my mother's high-rise apartment at the long term care center, discussing "her youthful days" -- back in the 1930s and 1940s...and I have a nice feeling come over me --happy that she can still remember those times. Eventually, I say my goodbyes,  head downstairs, jump into my truck...head home,  and tune in to that old-time radio station and listen attentively to Glen Miller's "In the Mood."

Or, I find myself sifting through family albums at the home I grew up in and reminiscing over my most childest moments, like the day my parents and I took a trip to Tombstone to visit the town too tough to die.  I was seven years old with a new gun and holster set strapped to my hip...and I was feeling tough as I headed down Main Street, looking for trouble.

I guess I have finally stopped to smell the roses...and for what ever reason I have decided to relive the past and recall just how far I have come.

So, guess what happened on my drive home today? I shuffled with the tuner and the next song I heard was the 1969 tune, "Yesterday When I Was Young."

The country crooner Roy Clark made the song popular 45 years ago and many, many great singers followed suit with their version over the years -- including Glen Campbell and Dusty Springfield.

The lyrics to the song hit home. The lyrics must have done the same to "listeners" in 1969 who had reached that age when they too would take time to stop and smell the roses.

It's been a long haul since that day when I crossed the gym floor and uttered the words in a squeaky voice, "Would you like to dance?

It was a wonderful time back then, but I've discovered that "getting old" isn't so bad, either. The roses are definitely in bloom.