I’m not much for social media, but I do have a few guilty pleasures that I follow on Twitter. One of my fav’s is “Super 70s Sports” – especially their posts that have nothing to do with sports in the 70s. Although the creator is fluent in words not allowed in my home in the 70s and 80s, the content usually puts a smile or smirk on my face at least once a day.

It seems like I was sitting under that fake plastic tree in the photo above when my Dad informed me that we weren’t going to be able to afford tickets for our family to see Journey in the summer of ’83 on their Frontiers tour at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis because tickets were out of this world expensive at $17.50 each ($51.05 in 2022 dollars), which was an unobtainable luxury for a delta farmer in the early 80s. (I never got to see Steve Perry and my first CD ever purchased was Journey – Escape in ’86)

I was crushed over Journey, as I had just attended my first concert in March ’83 – Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band at Mid-South Coliseum. Tickets sold out in less than an hour for Bob’s March 8 show at the Coliseum, so my dad and step-mom spent the night in the parking lot of Hot Dog Records in Jonesboro (this may not be true, but it’s how I remember it) to get us tickets for a second night at the Coliseum on March 9th. I remember it spit snow that night in the parking lot; Seger played “Turn the Page,” which he didn’t on the first night in Memphis; my brother got kicked out of school for wearing his Bob Seger t-shirt to school the next day (they didn’t like the naked ladies riding the bullet – I guess I understand that for a first grade classroom); and I experienced the aroma of weed for the first time in my life. I was scared to death, but hooked on live concerts. One of these days I will try to list them all.

I think all of us in Gen X and older can look back and pine for what felt like simpler times when our choices were limited and information took patience and effort to obtain. It was a time when salsa and queso had not been exported out of Texas and our snack choices in Arkansas consisted of Ruffles with a side of Onion Dip or Ding Dongs.

It’s easy to wallow in sentimentality, which I have a tendency to do at times, as obvious from the few posts I’ve made so far. What I’m wrestling with is how to cherish and enjoy those memories in my life that have made it worth living, but not long for a reality that is only in my rearview mirror. How can I utilize my experiences to make today better? What actions can I take or words can I say that will positively impact those around me? It’s just so much easier to waste time pondering how it was or what it’s going to be like. I believe Jesus provided us some wisdom on this matter in the book of Matthew, “do not be anxious about your life . . . do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.”

In these days of an ever increasing pace of change and a cultural and political landscape seemingly on unsteady ground, I can find solace in my appreciation for the simpler times of Ruffles and Onion Dip, but I must focus my energy and efforts on making today a day worth living, especially for those around me.