I listen to oldies radio all the time, but every now and then, a song will thrust me into nostalgia. Today, it was "Put Your Hands Together" by the O'Jays. The year was 1974, and it was on the Top 40 charts in March of that year. At 13 years old, my adolescent life seems trivial now, but it was everything to me at that time, including,

Shepherd of the City Lutheran Church
confirmation
Pam Douglas
City Band
Brownie

I was happy--very happy. My mother was alive and I naively believed that you could live forever if you just willed yourself to do so. Spring was breaking, the time for track and he President's Physical Fitness Test in PE, and we were all nervously anticipating 8th grade graduation and the start of high school the next fall.

I might not have been as happy as I remember, but I'm sure I didn't fully appreciate the happiness I had. That's the risk of nostalgia--not an exactly earth-shattering pronoucement, right? And as happy as I recall being, I could have not imagined the joy and fulfillment of marriage, family, my career, and my life in general.

So, I did get misty for a moment, listening to the harmonies of the O'Jays. But hopefully, I will remember to enjoy the present and be optimistic about the future.