Long ago but never forgotten, children played on the tire swing like he did when life was for the young. Endless summer days were spent by the creek, cooling off in the cold water and swinging on a rope somebody put up when life was for the young.
Lemonaid stands by the foot of the driveway, yelling at every passing car, but few pass by, and interest is lost. Saturday afternoons at the roller rink and sometimes the movie theater for a marathon of favorite cartoons when life was for the young.
Rainy days reading comic books, wishing you were Superman, Batman, or any superhero as you wrapped a sheet around yourself, trying with all your might to fly as Dad yelled from downstairs to quit bouncing on your bed when life was for the young.
Walkey-talkies for you and your best friend next door talking past bedtime hidden under the sheets with a flashlight that showed bat wings on the ceiling, a mail-order light you saved up for that seemed like forever to arrive.
The absolute joy of the holidays when everything was magical and colorful, and I never wanted it to end, but it did, and life moved forward. No more lemonade stands or Saturday cartoons. No more Batman flashlights and walkie-talkies, all replaced with hanging out with friends, hoping that Maryann would say yes to be your prom date when life was for the young.
Playing Army in the backyard with sticks for rifles was replaced with basic training in a place you'd never heard of, and rifles took the place of sticks. You were sent off to war where life as you knew it was thousands of miles away as real bullets flew in all directions, and you prayed like never before that it would end.
Decades passed, and time caught up with you. Good and bad memories became constant reminders of moments that made you who you were when life was for the young.
Mike 2025
You are a great writer Mike, happy to have met you and been able to spend some time with you.
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