The belief that stories and songs grow with you and their meanings change with life experience, rings true. We all have a memory bank of people, places, and eras we sometimes consider at the playing of a particular song.

"In My Life" by the Beatles does this for me. It contains key themes, truths, and observations about life, rendering it a classic.

When I was a kid I listened to it, paying less attention to lyrics, moved more by the immediate beauty of melody. Of course, with the passing of age and experience, things do change.

The people, the moments, the events from the past aren't merely memories; they are part of who I am. For me a memory-bank standout will surely be Mackinac. Call it serendipity. Luck. Good fortune.

I call it a blessing.

The island imprinted an indelible, emotional tattoo on my soul and seeing what the dockporters have done on the MIDPA Facebook page, there's a shared enthusiasm, a commitment to remembering the joy of "yesterdays" in every unfolding "today."

It is in this spirit I believe Dave and I write. Not of our own lives per se, but fictionalized versions of the people, and the place whose sidewalks the soles of our shoes gladly trod, streets and roads our bikes rolled over, lives seasoned with a spice called "better."

"There are places I remember…"

Always. Mackinac.

"Tonight we drink; tomorrow we ride."

Jim Bolone