My freshman year in college, 1982, and I'm gathered with a
family in a
house in a
forest. We're listening to A Prairie Home Companion on the radio - my first experience of what would become a
lifelong Saturday evening or Sunday morning tradtion.
I look back and realize I've been listening to
Garrison Keillor for almost 20 years now. His
voice has
accompanied me from
college to blind wanderings about the country to career building ambitions in
foreign lands. I can't say how many things in my life have remained the
same for twenty years. Media has changed, that is for certain. We used to record the program with
cassette tapes. Now I have a
CD Player and am seriously considering a
DVD Player. And the
web! What a great idea!!
But what has stayed the same? Well, the last trip I took to Florida I was on an
airplane that was built in 1972. So
American Airlines hasn't changed.
My
friends from those years have grown away from me. Or I grew away from them. Most likely, it's a
mutual thing.
My
family has
evolved. About ten new
children have been born into my family since my freshman year in college.
Same, same - must think of what is the same. But it's all so different!! Even I am
different. Thankfully, happily different. What is the same?
Time hasn't changed. Minutes, hours, days, years have not gone metric. The
trees haven't changed - they are still elms, oaks, etc. But their number and health is changing.
Garrison Keillor has gone through changes, but his voice remains on the radio every Saturday night, bringing
comfort and
hope and a
deep faith in the value of life. Thank you Garrison!