Magic Moments

We went on our first real trip to Italy in 1996 with our dear friend JP. During our stay, we frequently heard ‘Magic Moments’ (performed by Perry Como).  It was released in 1957 with music and lyrics by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

It has become one of our favorite sentimental songs because it reminds of ‘magic moments’ in Italy. The lyrics hark back to a simpler time:

The way that we cheered whenever our team
Was scoring a touchdown
The time that the floor fell out of my car
When I put the clutch down
The penny arcade, the games that we played
The fun and the prizes
The Halloween hop when everyone came
In funny disguises

Magic moments filled with love

Magic Moments, 1957

I often think about the ‘magic moments’ from my life that are either gone or fading fast, such as:

• Letters and postcards
• Print newspapers and magazines
• Landlines
• Downtown shopping, especially during the holidays
• Locally owned restaurants that don’t all serve ‘fast food’
• ‘Free range’ childhoods – children safely playing outside with limited parental supervision
• Bipartisanship!

I miss all these things and more.  I am also sorry that our grandchildren won’t have some of the same experiences I did.

But I am truly not interested in rewinding the tape. These changes/advances are ‘magic’ in their own way:

• Equality – gender, racial, marriage (more progress still needed!)
• Technology – internet, mobile phones, email, texts, apps, etc.
• Hybrid and electric vehicles
• Seatbelt laws
• Smoke free environments

Some of the magic moments I grew up with are probably now history. So I guess it is fair to say:

History is the study of change

Yuval Noah Harari

Allene

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