As a young boy, “Time was on My Side”. Each day had a full

twenty‐four hours; seconds slowly moved towards their minute

mission. There was time to play, time for fun, to laugh,

to play games like hide and seek, king of the mountain,

and baseball. Play was only interrupted by a call to come to eat.

I took my baseball glove off long enough to eat a sandwich.

I was convinced I could easily claim the Guinness Book of Records

for devouring a sandwich with a minimum number of bites

so I could get back to playing. Energy had no limits.

As for sleep, without a care and a clear conscious, as soon as

my feet left the floor, I was in a deep sleep as my head hit the pillow.

Dreams were of trips to some exotic land, finding treasures or hitting

the winning home run in the seventh game of the World Series. Yes

as a young boy “Time was on My Side”.

As an old man, twenty‐four hours are in a race to get to

tomorrow. Seconds rapidly tick off helping their twenty‐four hour

friend reach its’ goal. Hide and seek is now replaced with search and

find; looking for my keys, eye glasses, wallet or trying to remember

where I left the checkbook. I no longer had thoughts of claiming the

Guinness Book for sandwich consumption with a minimum number of

bites. Now eating a sandwich is a job, one bite then off to the mail

box to collect my bills, another bite then go to the freezer to take out

my next meal. As for energy, I wish there was some way I could have

bottled it when I was young so I’d have it now when it’s so

desperately needed. As for sleep, I toss and turn for hours before I

finally fall asleep. Dreams now consist of winning the Lottery

to help pay bills or of the good times I had with

friends that are no longer on this earth.

Now only memories remind me of when “Time was on my side”.