About Yesteryear

Pin It “Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you're in diapers; the next day you're gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul.”

~Kevin Arnold – The Wonder Years

Moments pass in our lives like the playing of a favorite song on the radio. For a brief instant it is there, weaving itself into the fabric of now, becoming part of the tapestry of living. Then it is gone, leaving behind the memory which, like that weaving, can become faded with the onslaught of time.

Last night I found myself slipping into yesterday.

I had a visit after school from a boy I had mentored for several years; he’d showed up without warning. It wasn’t long before he was telling me about his recent experiences of life, about his upcoming graduation from high school, and his countless memories of yesterday.

As I listened to him talk of the past, I found myself slipping into the days back when he was much shorter than I was; I was his mentor so long ago. It seemed another lifetime, really; back before facial hair and critical life decisions.

As we talked about the moments he’d—or I’d—forgotten, we both laughed. It was a moment where I found myself, just for just a minute, stepping into yesterday. After nearly an hour, this young man left. Yet, I found myself still milling over the words of our conversation.

When I came home I did a little digging; it wasn’t long before I unearthed a DVD I’d put together of a camping trip I’d recorded of this young man and two other boys I had been mentor to. As I slipped the disk into the player, and the room ignited with the light of the screen, as also it did with the remembrance of times past.

I laughed out loud. I found myself inundated with memories of a trip with these three boys which was a lot of fun. I missed them. I started to miss all of the kids I’ve been a teacher or mentor to over the past decade of my time on this earth.

As the video came to and end, I sat in the darkened room; I began to wonder about them all. What were they up to now? Where had the pathway of their lives led them? What kind of people had they grown up to be?

I could only hope that they had all turned out…good.

“Over the course of the average lifetime you meet a lot of people. Some of them stick with you through thick and thin. Some weave their way through your life and disappear forever. But once in a while someone comes along who earns a permanent place in your heart”

—Kevin Arnold, The Wonder Years