Show TH THE MESSAGE By MARGARET 1 RUSSELL People visit Manti for a variety variety var var- of reau ons Some come cometo cometo cometo to sell things thing Some come to buy things Seine Sll come to see sec friends or relatives Lately a surprising number are arc looking fur for a little place for or when I retire The ones I like best thou though h are arc the people who are trying to recapture the past Th These Th-ase se visitors are usually middle middle- aged but are sometimes quite old At one time Manti lanti was their home They walked it itt its streets many many times They made purchases in its stores attended its schools explored it environs It be became became became be- be came as much c part of them themas as ns the blood that ran through their veins But they grew up and went away and for many years have been beau be u carrying their shares of the adult responsibilities responsibilities b of the world in other dimes climes Ive been in Sacramento for nearly 30 they'll say Worked in n a missile plant there Had three children two boys and a girl But they're all married and gone now I Thought Id I'd come back and see how the old town was Have you got a n phone book They pore over the phone phonebook phonebook phonebook book anxiously copying down familiar names They leave al almost almost almost al- al most running in their haste to revive an important part of their lives I could weep I doVe do We Ve live We Ve do this We Ve do that And suddenly a great deal of time has hns gone by A goodly portion of a lifetime We Ve recall with that bittersweet bittersweet bittersweet bitter bitter- sweet sensation known as nostalgia nostalgia nos nos- talgia the long ago years when we climbed sage cover ed hills an and hoed corn and went we-nt swimming Everything was Vas interesting and ing We Ve lived completely This zest for living is probably the thing we try to tc recapture and cant The Theonder wonder onder of an ant anthill anthill anthill hill or of clouds moving across a summer sly sky sk have been too long gone The old gentleman who hurries out as fast as his stiff joints will let him is soon back sitting quietly over overa a glass of root beer Thinking about this I told one of the children Do you know youre you're living through some of the happiest years of your life and the child said If I thought that was true Id I'd just give up Honestly I would Interesting aint it |