Forever Young....

      The cover of the magazine almost did me in....there they stood - I had to look twice, and blink once - for the names were right, but the faces....they didn't  exactly fit.....Luke and Laura. Think back....for me, it was the summer before I started College - the TRUE wedding of the century.....Soap Opera Drama at it's finest....Romance, Angst, Conflict, Gorgeous Wedding Dress.....She was beautiful (But a terrible actress). He was dangerous....the kind of man your Mother warned you about. Together they represented a fairy tale (albeit a dark one) come true, and eternal youth. Which may explain why my brain refused to accept the photographic evidence right in front of me...on the cover of Soap Opera Digest...on the rack by the Cash Register....at the Teeter.....where I was recently offered the Senior Citizen Discount.....
      "Luke and Laura - Reunited", the headline proclaimed. Tony Geary (Luke), never your typical handsome man, has not aged well....he looks a little like your standard Creepy Old Man next door. Genie Frances (Laura), looked like somebody's Middle Aged Mom...jowlish jaw line and all.  I've been noticing it alot lately...how folks around me - my contemporaries - are suddenly looking their age...the face that stares out at me from the mirror may or may not be looking a little beyond it's age.....but Luke and Laura?! That's just adding insult to injury.

     It's been a long few days.....nothing earth shattering - just the reality that is mine. Extreme Penny Pinching (my best sport) grows wearisome from time to time, and there are days when it weighs heavily on my spirit. I have had to tell the girls "No", one too many times this week....they ask for so little, and it hurts me....how how rarely the word "Yes" can fall from my lips. I miss College Boy so much today that it is a physical ache....I think that this latest bought of separation sadness was brought on by this past weekend's ice storm. The girls and I were snuggled in the Den - I was watching the clock as the streets were getting more treacherous by the minute - John was late getting in from work, and I was starting to worry. As I heard his key in the back door, I breathed a sigh of relief and thought - "Thank God - now we are all safe, here in the house".....and then it struck me that I was thinking in terms of "Us" as four people, instead of five.....thereby admitting that College Boy is making his own life....as it should be. Which is cause for celebration.....and sadness.
   As I left the house this morning, I popped Joan Baez into the CD player in the car....I got it from the Library over the weekend - her Greatest Hits Album....I had it on Cassette AND 8 track, back in the day, and it was often the soundtrack to my young life.....the best tracks (to my way of thinking) were the ones that dealt with lost love. Forever Young was another favorite - an anthem of empowerment to those of us who were 21 - and surely would remain so in perpetuity. It has been many years since I last heard this song, and as I listened to it this morning I realized it was NOT an anthem dedicated to the 21 year olds.....It is a prayer - for those trudging along in the trenches of life. It speaks, not to the Newly Wed Luke and Laura....but to the Luke and Laura on the cover of the Soap Opera Digest.....the ones that look a little ragged ...the ones that inevitably  wear life's mileage on their faces.....and that very mileage....the mileage that causes our backs to hurt, our knees to crack, our foreheads to furrow, our hair to grey- also causes our spirits to grow heavy....causes our tempers to grow sullen, our hope to run short.....causes us to grow old.
   Children have such depth of spirit.....they are eager and open - they thirst for knowledge, and view the world as a place of wonder. They love with abandon, and express that love without reservation. They forgive easily, and start each day in anticipation of a possible adventure....More than flawless skin, luminous hair, and a 26 inch waist....THIS is what we loose as we age...THIS is the youth Joan Baez wished for us, when she sang her prayer...the prayer I say for myself tonight.....the prayer I say for you, too....
   
      "May God Bless and keep you always, may your wishes all come true. May you always do for others, and let others do for you. May you build a ladder to the stars, and climb on every rung.....and may you stay forever young. May you grow up to be righteous, may you grow up to be true, may you always know the truth and see the light surrounding you. May you always be courageous, stand upright and be strong...and may you stay forever young. May your hands always be busy, may your feet always be swift, may you have a strong foundation when the winds of changes shift. May your heart always be joyful, may your song always be sung.....and may you stay......Forever Young."