When You Wish Upon A Star

We spent this past Friday night having dinner and watching a movie with our good friends, Tim and Donn, at their place. We all had a great time, and are looking forward to the next time that we can all get together. It is very cool that we have found a couple of guys that we have so much in common with. We share similar tastes in music, movies and so much more. They are the nicest guys, and it certainly doesn't hurt that they are also pretty freakin' hot! We are both very thankful to have met them.

On the way home from Tim and Donn's place, just as we were getting onto the road, Mumi and I saw a falling star. We both saw it streak right down the sky right there in front of us. Now, I'm not going to get all out there and new age on you and ramble on about how falling stars are some sort of sign or omen or a message from God or whatever, but I do certainly think that they are something special. After all, not everyone sees them. As a matter of fact, I have some friends who swear that they have never seen one in their entire lives. I, on the other hand, have been looking up at the night sky all of my life, always searching for falling stars and other celestial eye candy. It's just something that I do. Therefore, I have seen many, many falling stars in my life. In fact, I am sure that I have seen more falling stars than the average joe. I even managed to catch a glimpse of a falling star in broad daylight a few years ago. I was bike riding with Mumi, and suddenly, this greenish streak shot across the daylight sky. I told Mumi about it and asked him if he had seen it, but he said that he hadn't. In fact, he insinuated that I was either lying, going crazy or seeing things, or possibly all three. But, later that day, we heard a news story on the radio about how thousands of people across the state had seen the same daytime falling star. So, my credibility and sanity were once again restored.

When I was much younger, I did believe that falling stars were an omen or a sign from some higher being. I also really believed that I was special since I saw them all of the time. I thought that there must be some voice out there, or possibly even inside me, that told me when to look up at just the right second to catch sight of the meteors. I even went so far as to believe that the falling stars somehow empowered me. They gave me strength or energy. Surely, because I was witnessing all of those falling stars, one day I would be famous or rich or super intelligent or whatever. I was a chosen one. Oh, how glorious life was surely going to be for me, the super special falling star seeing boy!

Well, here I am in the present day... I am not famous. I am not rich. (Well, not rich with money, that is...) And, I am certainly not super intelligent. However, I am still seeing those falling stars. They are still as beautiful as I ever remember them being. And, as short as each of their existences is, the memories of their ephemeral bursts of light across the night time skies stays with me long past their physical lifetime as do the memories of all of the times and places and people that were present in my life during those special seconds when I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one blazing bright down the darkened sky. Cherished memories, for sure. Memories that could never be replaced. Memories that I am thankful to have retained. Memories that make up the story of my life, chapter by chapter, star by star.

Maybe I am more rich than I really know. Maybe I am already as famous as I need to be. Maybe I am just intelligent enough to remember to take the time, every now and then, to look up into the night time skies. You just never know when another memory might be trying to burn itself into the vast, star-filled skies in the universe of your mind. You never know when a star is going to make that sort of sacrifice for you...