That's Life

Many years ago, when I was a young teenager, I had a dream.  In my dream I was standing on a stage, wearing a black evening gown, standing in front of a microphone singing Frank Sinatra’s hit, That’s Life.  In my dream, I had known all the words, and as I reflected on the dream I found that I still do.

That’s Life – that’s what all the people say
You’re ridin’ high in April; shot down in May       
But I know I’m gonna change that tune
When I’m back on top – back on top in June…

Pretty impressive when I can’t remember what I ate for breakfast yesterday.  But I digress…

Have you ever had a dream where you were you – only you weren't?  In this dream I had red hair, done in a short flip popular in the ‘60s.  I was Midge.  Remember Midge?  Barbie’s ordinary looking best friend?  Yeah, that was me. 

So when I read about the AARP Boomer Superstar contest, the dream came back to me and I knew I would enter the contest using that song.  I uploaded a background track from i-Tunes and recorded myself using my smart phone.  Wow – gotta love technology!

I played back the first recording.  Ughhh – I was flat on a couple of the notes.  But more than that, I had the irrefutable evidence in front of me that my voice had changed.  The glow in my voice was gone.  And sadly, it was not replaced by the warmth I've heard in other “mature” voices.  Mine was not the voice they were looking for.

There is a truth we boomers are loathe to face:  some abilities and talents fade as we age.  I entered the contest anyway, knowing my superstar days were behind me.  Oh, well.  That’s life.