One of my favorite songs is Against the Wind, by Bob Seger. The song was released in 1980 at a time in my life when I was young and foolish and free and impressionable and just beginning to travel down a path that eventually delivered me to where I am now. Hell, yes. Against the Wind was kick-ass back then. The song was so popular and so much air time was given to it that it captured a Grammy Award that same year and embedded itself into the hearts and minds and consciousness of millions of people. Me included.
Changing our points of view is what good art, literature, music and poetry is all about: a glimpse, a sound, a special light or shadow, a hint, the glimmer of something forgotten or sensed for the first time, a recollection or fleeting scent; when it happens we may not even be aware that something amazing has melded with our souls. Bob Seger songs are good at doing that. “Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then” is a line from Against the Wind that has stuck with me through the years. Although the words refer to an obvious love affair gone wrong, as I grew older and less foolish and less impressionable, the lyric’s interpretation took on various and more ominous undertones.
Mom passed away in April of this year. She was 95 years old. She once mentioned to me during one of our daily early morning coffee break telephone chats that she had been puzzling over how the things that we learn to do better as we grow older would have helped us so much more if we had known about them when we were young enough to appreciate them better. Wish I didn’t know now what I should have known then.
I can live with that. Mom, I will miss you.
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copyright© 2015 by Simply Tim’s Blog Spot
I’m so sorry to hear about your mom, Walt. I lost my mom 12 years ago and know how hard it can be to wrap your head around such a thing. I’m sending good thoughts your way.
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My condolences for the loss of your Mom…I miss hearing from you and Rich and Walt on a daily basis, like I did before WordPress, in the ‘good old days’.
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Those “good ‘ol days” were a lot of fun and a lot of work. Writing a daily column is very time consuming. Truth is, I wrote so many glimpses of life back then I just ran out of things to write about. Vicki, if I recall you have been with us from the beginning, circa 1980 something when the combination of du Jours (my daily Tips du Jour required the most amount of effort!) had 70,000 something viewers. It is humbling that many of you Golden Charter Subscribers have stuck with us and still consider us a good read. From time to time I enjoy visiting the old Recipe du Jour archives — mostly leftover from the “Topica” days — and cringe at my idealistic writing style early on. Back issues starting in 2000. A trip down Memory Lane for sure. If anyone is interested, visit the Recipe du Jour website (link). We lost more than 10 years of archived material when we switched to Topica from our original Newsletter service.
Eventually, I grew tired of the (back then) free Topica text-only format, opting instead for a leap to the HTML-type technology that modern blogs offer. After a while, Topica’s “free” service was discontinued, without which we never would have survived. The du Jours never turned a profit, but that didn’t really matter. Rich, Walt and I continue to love what we’re doing on our blogs, even though we do it less often.
I mentioned recently that I have upped this blog’s rating to “R” from “G”. I figure what-the-hell, since I am now collecting social security and most of my readers are as old as I am, I can get probably away with an occasional “what-the-hell” and maybe even a risqué story line or two. (Those 1968-era memories are becoming more and more attractive!) Hahahaha. Who knows? Perhaps my venture into the “R-rated” arena (one richly populated with teenagers and folks much younger than I am who are watching prime time television!) will spark a new crop of blog entries.
Thanks again for your continued support, Vicki.
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Those columns were indeed a whole lot of work, I’m sure. And I loved them from the start… and I miss them too. It was good to read this post about the good ol’ days, Tim, and to know how you got to where you are. Thanks! Will always love hearing from you.
Annie
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I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say I look forward to them!
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I want you all to know how much I appreciate your comments. Really. And I will try to be more consistent in the future regarding the regularity of posting to my blog. I am planning on reposting a couple of rememberances of Mom as a tribute to an extraordinary human being.
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Tim, I am sorry on the loss of your Mum. You were able to share good times with her as an adult, different dynamic than as a kid.
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Through we know that heaven has welcomed a very special person,
Our hearts still feel the sorrow.
With Sympathy and Loving Thoughtful Prayers for you.
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Oh, Tim… I didn’t know that you lost your mom. I’m so sorry, my friend. Am glad you got to keep her to the age of 95, though. As for that lyric, it resonated very strongly with me right away, the first time I heard it… and I never thought about it in connection with a love affair. I thought I heard it in a Seals & Crofts song, but can’t recall which one. At any rate, it’s a heart-grabbingly potent lyric. My deepest sympathies to you, Tim. And a big hug.
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Thanks, Annie.
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Very sorry to hear about your mom. Sounds like you inherited her way of thinking. (And yes, love Bob Seger!)
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Nice one Tim.
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It bothers me that so much time lapses between your posts. I am so sorry to hear about your Mom. I have read you seemingly forever, and I know that you miss those morning coffee chats a lot. My sympathies go out to you, and I totally agree with your post today.
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Tim…So sorry for the passing of your Mom….she was very fortunate to have lived a long life….my prayers go out to you…..God Bless…Marlene
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Thank you. Mom was a very special person. Army wife, mother, and friend.
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My sympathies on the passing of your mom. When mine died, I suddenly realized that I had become part of the “older generation” all at once. I remember standing at her coffin holding her cold, stiff hand and sobbing uncontrolably, mostly because I missed the mother I once knew. She suffered from Alzheimer’s and had not been herself for many years, so it was a blessing when it happened, but I missed the mother I knew all those years before.
Bob Seger’s song has always been one of my husband’s favorites, and he introduced me to the Bob Seger repertoire. The man was a song writing genius.
Again, my sympathies.
Peg Stevens
Peg @>—>—-
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Mom has been there for me for 65 years. I am lucky to have had a mother who was also one of my closest friends.
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