The Three Musketeers (September 21)

Hank, Rex and I “always knew that August’s parade of lazy days must finally come to an end. For Granny, as well… the conclusion of summer aroused powerful emotions.” For as she watched our late-summer exploits, “the freedom we enjoyed must have reflected opportunities totally beyond reach for even the most intrepid of Victorian daughters. Still, she did not begrudge us our fun. One afternoon she… even summoned up a legend for us to enact. ‘So, boys, what will the Three Musketeers take on today?’” And we loved it… “Fishing rods in hand, we struck fencers’ poses and declaimed the only remnant of the story any of us knew.

“All for one, and one for all!”

p. 157

Summer’s inevitable end, just as the season reached its peak, may have been an accurate – if not explicitly recognized – metaphor evoking the culmination of a rapturously happy childhood. But however we interpret such episodes, they are innocently golden moments that even the most fortunate adults will never quite recover in later years.

We have a duty to ourselves to remember such experiences as best we can. And if you’re willing to share one, possibly you could report it below.

(Illustration generated by AI)