“Poor boy! Poor boy! Down-hearted and depressed and in a spin Poor boy! Poor boy! Oh, youth can really do a fellow in! How lovely to sit here in the shade With none of the woes of man and maid I’m glad I’m not young anymore.”

The twenty year old’s door is open but no one is able to answer. Ring the door bell all you want, the tenant inside is busy with whatever preoccupies that age, especially that age. Depressed and not knowing the source, anxious without a recourse, moody and it’s the other person’s problem. This is the period of life that we cherish and hold to? No way.

“The rivals that don’t exist at all The feeling you’re only two feet tall I’m glad that I’m not young anymore No more confusion No morning-after surprise No self-delusion That when you’re telling those lies She isn’t wise And even if love comes through the door The chance that goes on forevermore Forevermore is shorter than before.”

“Forever is shorter than before…” “Forever” grows shorter when you’re past that passable age. What is it that we cherish about the youth except their youth? I rarely meet youths whose conversation is about more than one subject, themselves. It’s easier to just hold up a mirror in front of them and walk away because hopes of an extended conversation vanished.

“The Fountain of Youth is dull as paint, Methuselah is my patron saint I’ve never been so comfortable before, Oh, I’m so glad that I’m not young anymore.”

This 1958 song from “Gigi” helps us older folks celebrate what has yet to enter a youthful minds:

• integration of life’s experiences
• synthesis of people you’ve met and observations made along the way
• testing, testing and even more testing of beliefs, values and attitudes
• critical analysis of the day’s event bolstered by previous mistakes and successes
• more doubt than certitude
• more certitude about what doubts you
• contentment overwhelms you when you least expect it
• confidence is proven everyday
• sentences now contain a noun and verb
• endless memories are processed daily

“Methuselah is my patron saint I’ve never been so comfortable before, Oh, I’m so glad that I’m not young anymore.”