October is Homecoming.

It is the high school football field with the pep band in the stands playing “Tequila” over and over, mercilessly.

It is a return to a simpler time, a gathering of old friends, a remembrance of the past.

It is a Norman Rockwell painting we can all live in, breathe deeply of, smell and taste and embrace for thirty-one days in the fall.

Homecoming at my high school is, I’m told, this Friday. Some of my fondest high school memories were those Friday night football games. The band, the game, the cool autumn nights. It all combined to become something permanently etched in my memory. One of my greatest regrets is that I never bothered to get a letterman’s jacket at the time.

Take a minute or two today and look back at that time in your life, a time before mortgages or car payments or any of the other Big Adult Things found you and took hold. Remember seeing your friends everyday, laughing too loud, being more spontaneous because you just didn’t know any better.

And, when you do, I hope what you remember makes you smile.

Happy October.