What Have You Forgotten?

I was washing my hands this morning and the song "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" popped into my head. I started singing it. I made it halfway through and got stuck. I realized that I had forgotten the words to this song.

How is it possible that my childhood seems so far away in the foggy past that I can't remember the words to such a simple, but universal song we've been singing since we were little? It disturbs me more than a little that this is happening not because the song has meaning to me, but what I told myself would never happen has indeed occurred: I've grown up and forgotten. I've become a boring, stale adult and I lack the imagination that used to entertain me faithfully.

I don't see things in the clouds anymore, or wonder how I can get around like the Care Bears do without falling back down to earth. It's been a long, long time since I've looked for that fallen and hollowed out log to crawl through that would take me to Fred Penner's place. I don't walk home now pacing myself so that my foot lands exactly in the middle of the sidewalk slab. My thoughts now are filled with such things like bill payments, deadlines at work, groceries, keeping the house clean, kids or no kids, mortgage and gas prices. It's disheartening that I'm feeling older than I am and I don't have space in my head to think about silly kids' stuff anymore.

We all have to grow up. I accept that, heck I spent my first 18 years or so trying to do just that. I just never thought I'd become old. I don't want to get to adulthood and forget about how to be young, a kid or think about something other than regular life. I have to go Google the words to the rest of the song now, because I still can't make the words come back. I have to rely on a machine to bring back my childhood.