Once I Was Young

While going through some old boxes, I discovered my 1958 High School Annual. Finding the annual wasn’t surprising, but the big surprise was how young my classmates and I looked.

Each picture brought back memories of individuals and the events we shared. Looking at the sports sections of the annual, our high school football team looked like a peewee team, yet we won our conference in ‘58. I noticed a picture of one of our starting tackles; he weighed 183 pounds. I was a running back and weighed 165 pounds.

Many of my peers had driver’s licenses and drove, usually the family car. It’s hard to believe our parents let us out of the house in the evening to drive; we were so young.

Recently, I saw some high school kids standing outside their school and others walking home. Most of them had backpacks. I don’t think I knew what a backpack was until my son became a Cub Scout. We carried our books in our arms or left them in our lockers at school.

Today, students carry, in addition to books, gym shoes, tablets, laptops, smartphones, thumb drives, and an occasional taco or soda. Maybe they don’t carry books, but the school curriculum is online.

Seeing these kids, I always thought, “How young they are!” This was quickly followed by, “Wow, to think that one day soon, these youngsters will vote." Can they be trusted with the future?

I worry about today's kids, who look so young. Then I remember when I was young.