Originally Posted by
Jarhead
This month, two of my Granddaughters are turning seventeen, and I thought back to my own year at seventeen. It was the year I enlisted in the Marine Corps, the year that put me on the path to Duke, even though I enlisted during my high school junior year, and pointed me toward a long association with the Marine Corps. And then I forgot about that year, mostly. It didn't come up again in my mind until 1975, the year that Janis Ian won a Grammy for her song, "At Seventeen." I liked it, for its musicality, but I didn't notice its lyrics. Seventeen was a long way back for me, and the lyrics weren't important. And I forgot about it again.
Not more than an hour ago I was signing a birthday card for one of them, and I wanted to say something nice. I remembered the song, and looked up the lyrics for inspiration. Wow, I was disappointed. Seventeen can be a tough year for kids, but the song was about the troubles one faces at seventeen, and I wanted to say something encouraging. I really like Janis Ian, and her music. I even have one of her albums, on vinyl, but I cannot remember the last time I played that album.
How could I possibly find something to encourage the girls from that song? Such a beautiful song, but so depressing. I dropped that idea, and signed on the card that seventeen was the best year for me, the year when all things came together. Then I just backspaced over that, and typed in, "Love, Grandpa." Now, the song had depressed me, but I thought about these two kids, just entering the senior year in Durham School of the Arts, and relished the fact that they are excited about their lives. I don't have to worry about them, even though I am the family worrier. They know where they are headed.