Life is a Highway

Originally Published July 2021

Life's like a road that you travel on,

When there's one day here, and the next day gone,

Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand,

Sometimes you turn your back to the wind.

These words were first sung by Tom Cochrane in 1991 in the song entitled, “Life is a Highway”. In 2006, the song was remade by Rascal Flatts for the Disney movie Cars. I remember that version well. My own children were in elementary school, and we not only owned the DVD once it was released, but we had the soundtrack CD as well. (For all those younger than me, we didn’t have streaming then.)

These past few weeks, I have been on our highways quite a bit with a few days of professional meetings in Northwestern Ohio, vacation to South Carolina, and another series of professional meetings in Illinois. I have not counted the miles, but I have spent close to 48 hours in a car this summer on America’s highways getting to and from locations. And I have enjoyed each minute (well, most minutes) of the journey. From the cities to farmland to the seashore - traveling the roads of our nation brings beauty that can be awe-inspiring, landmarks that make us want to Google the history of the location, and sometimes disappointment that some part of a city or the environment has not received the care that it should. The journey across our roads brings us ups and downs, twists and turns, and unexpected opportunities…

Just like life.

As school districts prepare to welcome new and returning students, I can’t help but think about their journeys and the highways that they will ride. Those highways will be exciting, challenging, and rewarding. It will have those same twists and turns, ups and downs, and challenges of every road. But as the song goes...

There's no load I can't hold,

The road so rough, this I know,

I'll be there when the light comes in,

Just tell 'em we're survivors.

Life is a highway. A wonderful, scary, exciting series of locations and events. I am glad that we get to ride it together!