The Memory of Parents
　　All you remember about your child being an cheap phones infant is the incredible awe you felt about the precious miracle you created. You remember having plenty of time to bestow all your wisdom and knowledge. You thought your child would take all of your advice and make fewer mistakes, and be much smarter than you were. You wished for your child to hurry and grow up.
　　All you remember about your child being two is never using the restroom alone or getting unlocked phone to watch a movie without talking animals. You recall afternoons talking on the phone while crouching in the bedroom closet, and being convinced your child would be the first Ivy League1 college student to graduate wearing pullovers2 at the ceremony. You remember worrying about the bag of M Ms melting in your pocket and ruining your good dress. You wished for your child to be more independent.
　　All you remember about your child being five is the first day of school and finally having the house to yourself. You remember joining the PTA3 and being elected president when you left a meeting to use the cect restroom. You remember being asked "Is Santa real?" and saying "yes" because he had to be for a little bit longer. You remember shaking the sofa cushions for loose change4, so the toothfairy5 could come and take away your childs first lost tooth. You wished for your child to have all permanent teeth.
　　All you remember about your child being seven is the carpool6 schedule. You learned to apply makeup in two minutes and brush your car dvd teeth in the rearview mirror1 because the only time you had to yourself was when you were stopped at red lights. You considered painting your car yellow and posting a "taxi" sign on the lawn next to the garage door. You remember people staring at you, the few times you were out of the car, because you kept flexing2 your foot and making acceleration3 noises. You pneumatic control valves wished for the day your child would learn how to drive.
　　All you remember about your child being ten is Electric winch managing the school fundraisers. You sold wrapping paper for paint, T shirts for new furniture, and magazine subscriptions4 for shade trees in the school playground. You remember storing a hundred cases of candy bars in the garage to sell so the school band could get new solar water heater uniforms, and how they melted together on an unseasonably5 warm spring afternoon. You wished your child would grow out of playing an instrument.
　　All you remember about your child being twelve is sitting in the stands6 during baseball practice and hoping your vibram shoes childs team would strike out7 fast because you had more important things to do at home. The coach didnt understand how busy you were. You wished the baseball season would be over soon.
　　All you remember about your child being fourteen is being asked laser engraving machine not to stop the car in front of the school in the morning. You had to drive two blocks further and unlock the doors without coming to a complete stop. You remember not getting to kiss your child goodbye or talking to him in front of his friends. You wished your child would be more mature.
　　All you remember about your office 2007 child being sixteen is loud music and undecipherable8 lyrics9 screamed to a rhythmic beat. You wished for your child to grow up and leave home with the stereo.All you remember about your child being eighteen is the day they were born and having all the time in the world.And, as you walk through your quiet house, you wonder discount mbt shoes where they went and you wish your child hadnt grown up so fast.
　　Youth is not a time of life , it is a state of mind, it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees, it is a Hermes Handbags matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, it is the freshness of the deep spring of life.
　　Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage Tiffany Rings over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years, we grow old by deserting our ideals.Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
　　Weather 60 or 16, there is in every human beings heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing childlike appetite for whats next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart, there is a play equipment wireless station: so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long as you are young.
　　When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then youve grown old, even at 20,but as long as your aerials are up to catch waves of optimism, theres hope you may die young at 80.