Innocence Lost in Life After 60

Knowledge is a wonderful thing, but too much can be detrimental. I remember my cardiologist telling me after two heart-attacks that I was like Adam after he ate from the tree of knowledge. I prefer to think of it more as once bitten twice shy!
From an infant to adulthood it is a learning experience in which we go from innocence to full knowledge. And along the way, we lose some of the greatest times of our lives. We outgrow Santa Clause, the tooth fairy, and the Easter bunny. And in their place we find people lie, cheat, steal and use us for their own pleasure. And we are asked to love unconditionally with that knowledge.
We can’t wait to grow up, and when we do, we wish we were a kid again. From pimply pre-teens worried about fitting in, to adults trying to navigate the water of adulthood. We lose the magic and wonder that is life.
Maybe this poem from the 80’s “Doogie Howser says it best.

When I was a child, all my days were filled with endless wonder. When I was a child, I would lie on the dew-covered grass and search the vast evening sky for falling stars. When I was a child, my friends and I would venture deep into the woods and tell tales of the Grim Reaper… Who with sickle in hand… Icily searched for his next victim. We weren’t afraid, he came only for the old, not us. When I was a child, I would look to my mother’s arms for warmth and my father’s eyes for approval. When I was a child, I wondered… When will I be grown? Now I’m an adult and I wonder… Can I ever be a child again?