How many times have you gone through old photographs and asked the question, “that’s me?” How could a dreamy eyed youngster, sunning on a Lake Michigan pier, be the same person as this crotchety elder? It happens. Every one of us has a story to tell. If the truth be known, we have multiple stories to tell. Live seems to be made up of a series of vignettes. Have any of you ever seen the Ellen Bursten/Alan Alda film, “Same Time Next Year?” It tells the story of a man and woman who meet one time a year for a couple of decades. The film conveys the changes, in scenes from every five years. Every time they meet its like they are different people sho need to be reacquainted to one another.

Life is kinda like this. About every 5 – 7 years we seem to evolve into a more mature and different personality. Well, one would hope one matures. Still, the concept of an ever changing person is not new. I have often been struck with how many lifetimes I seem to have lived. With a 1938 birth year, I seem to have had about 12 lives. Who knows, maybe even more.

Even my childhood was divided into two eras: before and after. Before I started school and after I started school. The before was defined by having to wear a harness so my Mother and Aunt could hang onto me and the after came after I figured out how to get loose. I’ve been running loose ever since.

After your formative years come the many different facets of, who, you are. The teens are filled with dreams, falling in love and out again, planning the future, playing sports, and the defining moment of graduation from High School. For many, college is next, with those years of emancipation from parental watch. Some of us got married first, then, went to college. However you evolved, life has as series of progression and experiences.

Some people don’t need the higher education. They’ve known what they wanted to do since early childhood. They defined their goals at four and stuck to them. Most of us, though, evolve through multiple series of changes. I was in my late Twenties when I knew it was time to return to school and study nursing. I was ready.

The period of time when my children were young, is clearly defined in my memories. It was a series of events surrounding my two sons, their early school years, spending time with friends, summers at the beach watching each others kids, picnics, and the responsibilities of family life. It passes so swiftly, you are left in a daze.

I know I’m not alone. Looking back always brings with it, both the pleasant and the unpleasant memories. Hopefully as we live each of our decades of life, we continue to evolve into the person we are currently. After years of coloring my hair blond, I am growing it out to its natural color. Oddly enough, the golden white hair looks blond. Nothing has changed.

I think of a line from the Moody Blues, “how is it, we are here?” Well, we are here, there’s no denying this. It’s what you plan next, that is the interesting part of living. Will tomorrow bring with it the evolution into a new lifetime, set within this one? This is the point when looking back has evolved into looking forward. Tomorrow promised to bring new memories and experiences. So my thinking is this: step into it, the past is history, the future is mystery, so step into it boldly. You have nothing to lose.