Good Riddance

“Fuck…”

Pardon my language, but I can’t help that this vulgar, mildly-offensive word is technically the first line of one of my favorite songs of all time: “Good Riddance” by Green Day. The song itself is short and sweet… it’s sad, yet strangely comforting… but most of all, it’s almost always relevant — at least to me.

“Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road,
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go.
So make the best of this test, and don’t ask why,
It’s not a question, but a lesson learned in time.”

So, the song was actually written when I was six years old — in 1993 — but it wasn’t released until 1997. It was wildly popular while I was navigating the craziness that was junior high and high school, in fact, that song was one of the first I learned to play on guitar. And as each school year came to a close, I remember hearing it a whole lot more.

Even before I could make sense of the lyrics, I knew Billie Joe Armstrong was trying to teach me something… I knew he was trying to evoke emotions within me… and he did. And I liked that.

“It’s something unpredictable, but in the end is right,
I hope you had the time of your life.”

To me, it’s a little strange… I mean the fact that it’s written in the past tense. I get that Armstrong was writing about a breakup, but that aspect of the song always made me scrunch my eyebrows and think, “Had…? Isn’t the best yet to come?”

For me, the best was still yet to come. In fact, I think that still holds true today.

“So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind,
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time.”
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial,
For what it’s worth it was worth all the while.”

In the 22 years since this song was released, I’ve grown — physically, mentally and emotionally. I’ve traveled the world, gotten married and started to find my place on this planet we call home.

I’ve taken tens of thousands of photos with cameras that have slowly rid themselves of film, shrunk and morphed into the increasingly-advanced, sleek digital devices we carry with us everywhere we go. I’ve taken photos of friends and family, photos of animals and nature, and — of course — photos of airplanes.

And I’ve taken plenty of still frames in my mind.

I have ink all over my body — tattoos of varying significance from my biceps down to my ankles — each of them serving as a permanent reminder of where I was and who I was throughout my years as a young adult.

And it was worth it.

No… not just the tattoos — I mean everything was worth it. The single year I spent at a small town private college as an aspiring pharmacist was worth it. The three years I spent at a public school studying to become a television news reporter were worth it. So were the years I spent working in news while trying to figure out why I declared broadcast journalism as a major. The time I spent figuring out what the heck I was going to do with my life when I realized news wasn’t for me? Yep, worth it.

My years working at a nonprofit, then an energy company and then for the government… worth it. And then, most recently, the years I spent freelancing for an aviation magazine and then finding my place within the greatest aerospace company in the world… YES. DEFINITELY WORTH IT.

For what it’s worth… it truly was worth all the while. And I do wholeheartedly believe that the best — my best — is yet to come.

“It’s something unpredictable, but in the end is right,
I hope you have the time of your life.”

I will, thank you.