A few weeks ago, my 10-year-old son Michael brought home a bunch of shells he had collected on a school trip. My wife told me she didn't understand why he felt the need to bring home so many shells. I'll admit that I wondered a bit about that too, but then I started to think about what it was like to be 10 years old.
Back when I was 10, it wasn't unusual for me to bring home a sand pail full of shells from the beach. When you're 10, shells from the beach are treasures you don't want to leave behind. Each new shell you encounter is a rare jewel which you've never seen before. When you become an adult, a shell no longer seems special, because you've seen plenty of shells. We look at the world around us, and nothing seems that special because we feel like we've seen it all before.
Well, maybe we need to look harder.
Rich
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