Spend your youth wisely by creating good memories

I wish I was 18 again.

Going to where I've never been.

Strange named places with lots to explore.

To see and do things for weeks, or more.

Instead, I settled for a small Long Island town.

Glendale is where the family settled down.

I remember it all, not a thing I'd forget.

Growing up there was different, you bet.

We teens just hung out, no money for a car.

Too young for a gin mill, we used an ice cream bar.

Zoot suits with pegged pants and hair piled high.

With side burns and padded shoulders to catch the ladies' eye.

For tanning our body, baby oil and vinegar gave a great glow.

While watching the bikinis go by ... really slow.

The memories so wonderful and full of refrain.

Oh, I wish I was 18 again.

Today's young, so many years ahead.

Too busy with email, Facebook or Twitter instead.

How they'll look back and wonder where all the years went.

"Oh, I wish I was 18 again," will be their lament.

Now, I know the value of years gone by.

Some real good, some not so, but boy, did they fly.

So those of you older, and thinking back then,

"Gee, I wish I was 18 again"

Al Miller

Palmetto

This story was originally published October 1, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Spend your youth wisely by creating good memories ."