DANIEL

Most of you from my generation will recognize this song by Elton John. It's a pretty lament. I bet some songs you remember remind you of a special time. Daniel is one that brings back great memories for me.

I guess I must have been twenty-one, a half a life ago, traveling in Europe with my college friend, Linda. We had just graduated from university, and were on our way to jobs, but felt we deserved a nice respite in between. We were foot-loose and fancy-free, no commitments, no responsibility for anything other than ourselves.

We were on the island of Corfu in Greece staying at a hotel along with a group of kids like ourselves from the U. K. We hung in pretty close with them. They were a nice bunch and it was wonderful to be with people who spoke English.

One night, we all headed to the golf club. We spent the night filling ourselves with food and drink, dancing the night away!

At one point, I slipped out to get some air. I walked out onto the balcony. I was all alone. It was an absolutely beautiful night. The sky was filled with stars as I looked over the Aegean Sea. It was warm and quiet and very still. And then the music began to play ... Daniel.

Beautiful, sweet music filled the air. I just stood there ... listening and absorbing the moment. I don't know why that special moment in time stood out and stayed with me all these years. Maybe it was the way I felt: so wonderful, so free, so young, so happy. I had my whole life ahead of me. It was a period in time marked by great innocence and idealism. I was just a kid who looked forward with wonder and excitement at the life and the road that lay ahead.

A lot has happened since then: some good; some bad. The innocence has definitely gone. I'm not as strong as I used to be, but have more wisdom. I'm not as energetic as I used to be, but have more patience. I'm much more sedate and have lost some of my reckless abandonment. I'm not as loud, but speak with a quiet assurance. So much has changed. I'm a mom now and a wife. I'm a bit of a writer ... well, at least in my own mind. I've lived long enough to understand "life is a journey". I'm old enough to look back, young enough to look ahead. At forty-one, I'm too young to be old, but at the same time, too old to be young; living in the realm of the "great compromise" between wisdom and youth.

One day I was at the office, gabbing away with my co-workers. The radio played in the background. Suddenly the sweet haunting melody of Elton John's Daniel filled the room ... And I traveled back...