It is hard to believe that I am 59 years old today. Where do all these years go? It is 44 years ago since I first took the #7 train to Shea Stadium.
34 years since I got my masters degree in chemistry from the University of Rhode Island
24 1/2 years that I have been married to Karen
20 years since Lee was born
15 1/2 years since I started at NJIT
I've given some thought to some songs that talk about the passage of time:
Leaves that Are Green - Simon and Garfunkel
Who Knows Where the Time Goes - Sandy Denny
Touch of Gray - Grateful Dead
I have chosen to feature Not Dark Yet by Bob Dylan. In my opinionit is his best work of the 1990s. It is a little pessimistic, it is inevitable that we all must reach our demise. Please check out this YouTube video and the lyrics.
Shadows are falling and I've been here all day It's too hot to sleep time is running away Feel like my soul has turned into steel I've still got the scars that the sun didn't heal There's not even room enough to be anywhere It's not dark yet, but it's getting there Well my sense of humanity has gone down the drain Behind every beautiful thing there's been some kind of pain She wrote me a letter and she wrote it so kind She put down in writing what was in her mind I just don't see why I should even care It's not dark yet, but it's getting there Well, I've been to London and I've been to gay Paree I've followed the river and I got to the sea I've been down on the bottom of a world full of lies I ain't looking for nothing in anyone's eyes Sometimes my burden seems more than I can bear It's not dark yet, but it's getting there I was born here and I'll die here against my will I know it looks like I'm moving, but I'm standing still Every nerve in my body is so vacant and numb I can't even remember what it was I came here to get away from Don't even hear a murmur of a prayer It's not dark yet, but it's getting there.
1 comment:
Bruce, never lose sight in all your personal accomplishments of the impact you've had on others; the next Chemistry Librarian at NJIT will know how it feels to be Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay.
In the five years I've left NJIT how many times have I been hit with a reference question and thought "If an answer exists, only one person will know." And this one person is You.
Don't allow the Beancounters, Bumpkins and Scatterbrains of this world to bring you down; it is their station to criticize. The soldiers who've spent time in the trenches with you know there is no one we'd rather go into battle with.
How many times have I gotten off the phone with Anthony or Limbaugh only to hear how helpful you were with their prediciments?
In the influencial words of Maya Angelou: "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
Or, if in need of an Uncle Bob reference:
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young
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