While brushing his teeth during a recent bedtime routine, my five-year-old remarked, “You must be pretty wise.” Flattered, I asked why he thought that.
“Because you’re old,” he said and resumed his brushwork.
Beware of the backhanded compliment.
The kid ain’t lying, though. I have spent four and half decades on the planet, and while I may not have attained great wisdom, I have stockpiled plenty of memories.
I grew up on a small rural farm in upstate New York, attended a tiny public school with 360 students from K-12 in one building, and graduated with 13 classmates.