I close my eyes and it’s 1972. I’m 21 years old and sitting with my friend Rick, who is a fellow crew member on the U.S.S. Shreveport. On an off-duty weekend we scored tickets to a concert by the band Chicago. The band was good though not visually exciting. The music was exactly as it sounded on their records, which is more than some bands at the time could claim. We are seated behind and above the band, sitting in the balcony of the coliseum for the show.

I open my eyes and I’m sitting across from my friend Pete. It’s 2005 and we’re watching the current incarnation of Chicago performing at Caesar’s Palace in Atlantic City. The band seems much more comfortable on stage, with the horn section now up front as they perform. The band now has thirty years of material from which to choose, easily switching from ‘classic’ stuff to new as the evening progresses.

In between the two events there have been another four years in the Navy, six years of college, three marriages and two divorces. There have also been a few other events along the line but that’s a pretty good summary of the changes.

I only mention this since that was what I was thinking about during the concert itself. Just how much my life has changed and where the paths have led me.