My mother always told me that this photo was taken on my 2nd birthday, during Denver's first snowfall of the season, and also Election Day 1960 -- the day that John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States of America.

Well, it was either on my 2nd birthday (November 6th) or Election Day (November 8th), but not both.  All that's left is a badly preserved cut-out portion of a color snapshot (which I've scanned and quickly adjusted for color here).

It's always been a favorite, as much for what it has symbolized all these years as anything.  It's not hard to see why, is it?  Some of the words that come to mind:  Fresh, Forward, New, Pure, Hopeful, Joyous, Youthful, Excited and Exuberant -- and holy crap, look at those RED PANTS!

I feel all those things today -- minus the exuberant red pants, though if I owned red pants, I feel moved enough to wear them!  Because they're red and red's a fun color in the snow (even though it's like crazy in the 60s here today) and happy.

Man, how much has happened in 48 years.  It is simply, mind-bogglingly, amazing.

Yeah.  Mind-bogglingly!

I know what my mother was thinking when she snapped this photo and later rolled all of those events into it.  I feel that way today -- for my kids, for all kids...

Hopeful.  Happy.  Thankful.