Will always remain in my heart

I have very pleasant yesteryear memories of being a young boy and also later as a teenager visiting my grandmother and spending time with her on a Saturday evening watching one of her favorite television programs, The Lawrence Welk Show.  

While younger folks may not have a clue about this classic and very popular weekly television program, most middle-aged people like me definitely remember it and likely with much fondness.

The Lawrence Welk Show was an American television musical variety show hosted by none other than Lawrence Welk.  He was a big band leader who ran a tight ship of delivering wholesome entertainment week after week that may best be described by those who remember him and his show as “wunnerful, wunnerful!”

America loved the Lawrence Welk Show as evidenced by it being on television for 31 years – from 1951 to 1971 live and then in first-run syndication for another dozen years from 1971 to 1982.

The show always ended during its syndication years with the same closing theme – Adios, Au Revoir, Auf Wiedersehen.  I can still see my grandmother sitting in her rocking chair ever so happy and relaxed while listening to this closing song with promises by Lawrence Welk that his show would be back next week.       

Here are the lyrics of this song and a video of it being sung at the end of the show:

Good night, good night until we meet again
Adios, au revoir, auf wiedersehen 'til then
And though it's always sweet sorrow to part
You know you'll always remain in my heart.

Good night, sleep tight and pleasant dreams to you
Here's a wish and a prayer that every dream comes true
And now 'til we meet again
Adios, au revoir, auf wiedersehen
Good Night!

Good night, sleep tight and pleasant dreams to you
Here's a wish and a prayer that every dream comes true
And now 'til we meet again
Adios, au revoir, auf wiedersehen
Good Night!

The lyrics of this song dance in my mind this evening which is my last day of being a quinquagenarian.  Tomorrow I’ll officially be a sexagenarian and, quite frankly, I’m looking forward to it.  I hope I make it and promise to live life to its fullest during this new decade of my life. 

But in a moment of middle-aged man reflection, as my quinquagenarian clock approaches midnight, there’s a certain melancholy resonating in my emotion about leaving the who I’ve been these past ten years in my gracefully aging journey. 

Yet one of the many things I’ve learned about myself these past ten years is how I resist change in a big time way but once change occurs, I’m amazingly resilient and embrace whatever new is now my present.

I hope this will be my experience tomorrow. 

Nonetheless, nostalgia strikes me as I compose my final quinquagenarian reflection, and the lyrics of Adios, Au Revoir, Auf Wiedersehen dance in my mind and heart as I reminisce. 

So as I prepare for bedtime, I’ll privately sing the first verse lyrics of this song to myself as I fondly remember the past ten years of my life.

Good night, good night until we meet again
Adios, au revoir, auf wiedersehen 'til then
And though it's always sweet sorrow to part
You know you'll always remain in my heart.

Yes, the past ten years of the life I’ve lived will always remain in my heart.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum