was stowed, and people climbed into the car.
When the various farewells were done and the driver backed the car out
into the street and drove it away, that was it. The people in the
car would wave out the windows and the people who were staying behind would
wave back but, once the car was out of sight, the people in it were gone.
They might as well have been half way around the world. If somebody
in the car had forgotten a shirt or a toy, there wasn't any way to notify
him. He'd probably never see that item again. It might be years
before any of those people spoke to one another again, if they ever did
so. If there was something that somebody had forgotten to say to
someone, it was too late to say it. A neglected apology or a forgotten
kind word would remain unspoken forever.
If
I was among those who remained behind after such a departure, then I'd
walk out to the street and watch the car as it receded into the distance.
I'd watch the back of it, clinging to the sight of it, until it passed
from view around a corner or over a hill. Such departures were profound
events for me. I had an instinctive understanding of the potential
finality of them. Every such departure filled me with sadness.
When I was ten years old, goodbye was a powerful word.
As
time has passed, I think that I've noticed a change in the way that people
feel about departures. I might be wrong. Maybe it's just a
trick of memory over the years but this is how it seems to me. It
seems easier, now, for people to say goodbye. Departures don't seem
to be as important as they were when I was a kid. I think that it's
because, nowadays, people are never really out of touch with one another.
A departure, even if the traveller intends to go a long distance, isn't
a separation. I recently called an old friend who lives in Santa
Clara, California. I haven't seen him for about 14 years. I
called him after six o'clock so it didn't even cost me anything.
He wasn't at home. He was in a bar in Oakland but he answered his
phone promptly. I guess that it doesn't really matter where somebody
is nowadays. A person who's across the continent is just as accessible
as a person who's across the room. Distance has a different meaning
now than it had in days gone by. Goodbye isn't such an important
word anymore.
Old
habits die hard. When somebody drives away, I still have a tendency
to stand and watch the car until it's out of sight. A departure still
saddens me but not so much as in the past. I know now that, when
the car is gone, its occupant isn't really gone. I know that I can
snatch the cell phone off of my belt and, in a few seconds, I can be talking
to the guy again. Nobody is ever out of reach unless he wants to
be. Nowadays a conversation with anybody that I know is right there
at my fingertips, just as long as the little battery isn't dead.
I
think that people born in recent years might not understand the previous
meaning of goodbye. I wonder if the kids in the family today have
ever experienced a real departure. Someday, if we ever begin to send
space ships to the stars, then departures and goodbyes might again reclaim
their former status. They might again have meaning. For now,
it appears to me that the importance of the ideas is mostly gone.
So, with happiness at the change, I bid a fond farewell to goodbye.
So long, goodbye. It was interesting knowing you. For a long
time, you meant a lot to me. Maybe you will again some day but, for
now, I'm happy that you're gone.![10x5 Page Background GIF Image](../../Images/10x5_Page_Background.gif)
Inner Peace
Original Source Unknown. Forwarded by Cassie, of
Beaverton, Oregon.
I'm
passing this on to you because it definitely works and we could all use
a little more calmness in our lives.
By
following simple advice heard on the Dr. Phil show, you too can find inner
peace.
Dr.
Phil proclaimed, "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things
you have started and have never finished."
So,
I looked around my house to find all of the things I'd started and hadn't
finished. Before leaving the house this morning, I finished a bottle
of White Zinfandel, a bottle of Captain Morgan, a package of Oreos, the
remainder of my old Zanex prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some
Doritos, half a bottle of vodka, and a box of chocolates.
You
have no idea how good I feel right now!!!
Please
pass this on to anyone you think might be in need of inner peace.![10x5 Page Background GIF Image](../../Images/10x5_Page_Background.gif)
Old Timers' Lore
Overheard by Sam Aurelius Milam III
Ancestry
If your parents didn't have any kids, then you won't be able to have
any kids, either.![10x5 Page Background GIF Image](../../Images/10x5_Page_Background.gif)
Please use the enclosed envelope to send a contribution.
I prefer cash. For checks or money orders, please inquire.
For PayPal payments, use editor@frontiersman.my3website.net.
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September 2010 |
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