The Road.

“Walkin' down a lonely highway not feelin' alone,

Thinkin' back when things went my way and not the road I'm on.

Well, I've been down a time or two, but it never lasts long

I can always make it through on a wing and a prayer and a song

Ain't it funny how a melody can bring back a memory

Take you to another place in time

Completely change your state of mind.”

Last night, as I sat in a darkened movie theater, I was transcended into the past. It’s what movies are so good at doing, and when the credits roll, you have either a choice of leaving your memories on the floor along with the sticky soda and popcorn or take them with you as a reminder of the two hours you just spent engaged in a moment of time.

Recently I have been taken back in time through e-mails and phone conversations from people I knew in my past. I guess since they have now entered current times, they are no longer just of my past---they are back. I could not be happier.

I have heard from an old neighbor of mine. We grew up together. She lived right behind my home and for hours and hours as kids, we spent time hanging out. She was much cooler than I was; she was very kind to let me into her life. As we spoke the other day, I suspect she was happy to be on the other end of the line, I was really happy to talk with her. It was cut short; I had work to get back to work. But I am sure the nearly 40 years since our last conversation will be much shorter this time.

Then out of the blue I received an e-mail from a fraternity brother who I had not corresponded with for many years; he was probably the only guy I knew who was a White Jewish male who deeply wished he had been born in Louisville, Kentucky during the early 1940s. He knows what I am talking about---we have traded very long e-mails since Thursday. I am very happy he initiated the first mass e-mail to many of us--he is truly what a fraternity brother is meant to be.

The final person is someone who planted a seed in my life. I won’t go into specifics, but they know who they are, and no this is nothing I am concerned about writing about this individual---it’s just that on a personal level, it takes me back to a time that set the tone for who I would become. I will leave it at that.

As I walked out of the theater, I knew I saw this movie for a reason; like millions of people in this world, the ball spins one direction whereas it could have spun another. I love to go back in time, and let my memories take over, but I also know that we live in a world that has changed and we have changed with it.

The photo above was taken recently in Chicago; squeezed in between 2 large buildings is a building getting a rehab. In many respects it reminds me of how throughout time, we see so much change, but when it’s all said and done, we have not really changed at all. We may look different on the outside, but we are the same as we were so many years ago.

For those special people who have come back into my life---thank you.

And…

Thanks for stopping by.