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This was from a year or so ago… Found it today in some old files on my computer. Perhaps I posted this before, but I found it kind of appropiate after turning 21. Enjoy…

We are gathered here this morning, to pay tribute, to honor, to remember, and to move forward with new found strength.
We are not here to honor a man or woman. No, we are here… we are here to pay tribute… tribute to our childhood, to innocence lost… to fond memories… to long lost ideals.

The days of old are gone. No longer can we build sand castles, laughing and rolling as the wave crashes over. No more races on the monkey bars, dangling high above the ground below. No more dancing in the rain, soaked to the bone, with not a concern in the world.

We can only remember those days now with fond memories. The tides of change have overcome. To fight, to resist, to struggle is useless. For we are in the strong grasp of adulthood, responsibility, and common sense.

Yet we can take our childhood, and hold on to all that is good. We can move forward in this world, not as an adult, but as something new. We can move forward in this world, as a child would, with playfulness, with lightheartedness, with humor, with a sense of purpose, and with an open heart.

Yes we are here today, to pay tribute to something that has died. Our childhood is no longer. We will never be able to regain all that we had as kids. Yet we can take those memories, those ideals, and that innocence, and move on in this world, with a new steadfastness, a new commitment.

They may call us adults now, they may give us more responsibility, they may ask us to use our common sense, but we will always have the child inside of us.

Let us move on now, for we have graduated from our childhood, into the playground of life.