On Saturday, my twenty-one year old daughter Rachel was home from college and took a short nap on the couch.  Awaken, she announced, “I swear that tree outside had green leaves when I went to sleep!  And now, it is yellow.”  We laughed but discussed how it truly seemed to turn golden overnight. 

That following Monday morning, I glanced out the window as I walked into the kitchen to make my hot tea. I promise you there was a golden tint outside. Dressed and heading to the car, the gold was still in the air.  It made me think of some the golden things throughout my life.

Golden Tunes

As you might have noticed from past blogs, I love music. Driving to school, I wondered about song titles with the word gold or golden.  I began humming and recalling some words to the song, Sister, Golden-Hair by America.  It made me smile. Of course, when I got to school I had to look up the song on YouTube, so I could reminisce. I do not have a special memory of this song; it’s just attached to an era of 70’s days at the Copperhill, TN swimming pool. Another great one is the Larry Gatlin Band’s song, All the Gold in California. With three sisters and a mom who loved to sing, there were many days the 8-track accompanied us as we rode alongside the River Road trying to harmonize. Later in my life, I can vividly remember Michelle Kwan ice skating to Sting’s Fields of Gold. I was an adult, but I cried. She was such a talented artist. I hurt for her that night that she didn’t win the gold, but glided on the ice with such grace.

Late Nights with the Golden Arches 

Surprisingly, another golden item that brings back so many memories is the McDonald’s golden arches. Late Friday evenings after ballgames, the band bus would pull into Mickey-D’s. About 75 famished high-school kids would invade the small dining room, probably disturbing all the poor souls who were trying to eat a meal. We hooped and hollered as if we didn’t have a care in the world. By this time in the evening, most of my food money had usually been spent at the concession stand during the game. But, I always kept enough money tucked in my navy band pants to have a golden-fried apple pie! Ah, the simple things in life. 

The Golden Boob Tube

In 1985, my sister Gail and I just to loved watching Moonlighting with Cybill Shepherd and a much less violent Bruce Willis. Kurt Cameron and his family began the series Growing Pains. This was one of younger Julie’s and my favorites.  That same year, MacGyver came on the scene (and his poster on Donna’s bedroom wall), and he could escape any situation with a pack of dental floss and a bottle of nail polish. But perhaps the funniest of shows during this year was the Golden Girls. Rose and her Saint Olaf stories always cracked me up!  

Golden Transformations

Many years ago, I was driving over the mountain from Dalton to Blue Ridge, Georgia. Because Mom had been sick with colon cancer for about two years, I had made this trip many more times than usual. I was tired and weary as I wove along the windy road. The gold, red, and orange shone so beautifully that day. She was still having some enjoyable days with family, but was no longer working and had slowed a lot. All the prayers I had offered for Mom’s healing were beginning to turn into the realization that God might soon give her the ultimate gift of health. To say I was sad, was beyond an understatement.

Alone in the car, I saw the golden hues a little differently that fall.  I cried and talked to God, and He talked to me. He reminded me that as a Christian death is as beautiful as these golden leaves that were fading. For the first time, I saw the beauty in the completion of this life as one nears their Heavenly life. So, I drove and began to start the process of grieving the beautifully golden transformation that was to come.