From Life To Me

Yesterday Once More

"I never wanna grow up!"

That there's the tagline of Peter Pan by JM Barrie, after reading which I guess almost everyone feels the same way...I mean what could be cooler than singing, meeting Red Indians, fighting pirates and in general living in Neverland? I remember after I finished the book, I got myself a set of clothes pegs and fashioned a hook, then went around brandishing a wooden ruler...those were the days! I mean look at them...waking your mum at 3am coz you've wet the bed (again), watching Cartoon Network all day, or walking around with a towel round your neck bashing up some imaginary bad guys just like Jackie Chan

Then you enter your teens, the best and worst times of your life. You gotta deal with mood swings, the expectations everyone dumps on you, not caring about what you want to do, the fact that your crush in school's dating, the thrill of hurling abuses at your friends, reading adult fiction when you're supposed to be doing differentiation, forging friendships and saying goodbye.

Your first jeans, that Swiss Army knife your father got you for your 16th. The Boys Night/Girls Night, crying your heart out at the end of Gone With The Wind...

Then you grow up fully, find what you wanna do and do it.

And then one fine morning, you're walking your dog along the pavement, when a little kid of 4 points at him and goes "Doggie!" and just then you remember that YOU were four once, wetting beds and creating chaos. And that smile that flits across your face....THAT'S what growing up's all about...

I guess Chris Daughtry must be referring to growing up in these lines

"Of all the things that I still remember

Summers never looked the same

The years go by and time just seems to fly

But the memories remain

In the middle of September

We still played out in the rain

Nothing to lose

And everything to gain"

The Bilge Master