A wonderful surprise I found in my inbox this morning:
To all the kids who were born in the 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and
not from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and
no one actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because...
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scrap and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendos, or X-boxes; no video games at all; no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet, and Internet chat rooms. We actually had friends outside of myspace.com--we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth, got chased by bees, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door, rang the bell, or just yelled for them.
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best risk takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned
how to deal with it all.
And YOU are one of them!
CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?
It is a privilege to be able to contribute to this special mass.
Inside cover of the program: the lyrics to a song by David Haas.
The presider is Father Locatelli, President of Santa Clara University.
The opening song. I love this song. It is one of those with just the perfect mix of happiness, ecumenism, and zeal. Each time I sing it, I can't help but smile so broadly that my eyes disappear.
Next page.
Sitting down and taking a break during Rehearsal #2 as the early birds file in.
A very beautiful song, "Irish Blessing," by Lori True. I cried when I sang this during my graduation. It has come to the class of 2006 graduating seniors' turn to cry.
Earlier, in the morning during Rehearsal #1, when the hall was empty, Greg dedicated this song to us. Awww... Greg!
The score. All of us teared as he played a piano solo and sang softly to us in that cavernous hall.
Greg, our lovable Choral & Music Director, and me.
