Not long ago, I came across a picture of an athletic team on which I played as a youth, the Lexington Lions Club Little League baseball team.

As I scanned the picture, fond memories of this time and the wonderful friends I had began to flood my mind. It was sad to see so many of the people in the picture are now deceased.

Coach Skinny Hook, who recently passed away, was one of our managers, and the father of our shortstop, Curry Hook. My close childhood friend Robert McSwain, a fellow player, is also deceased. We lost him to an automobile accident in the prime of his youth. Also gone is another friend of my youth and former classmate, Tony Watford.

All of these people made a distinct mark on my memory, on my heart. The cycle of life is so short, I realized. The time we occupy on this earth is but a speck on the backdrop of time.

In this column, I am fond of recalling the substance of my youth, the jobs I had, the many friends and acquaintances, the mentors in my life, the good, the bad and the ugly. We are just passing through. What kind of a mark will you make on your journey? This poem by Linda Ellis talks about the "dash" on our tombstone.