Written by: Charles Aznavour

English translation by: Herbert Kretzmer

(Roy Clark sang this song at Mickey\’s Funeral in 1995. Mickey had heard Roy sing it before and thought it depicted his life so well that he specifically asked Roy to someday sing it at his funeral) 

 

Yesterday when I was young  

The taste of life was sweet as rain upon my tongue  

I teased at life as if it were a foolish game  

The way the evening breeze may tease a candle flame  

The thousand dreams I dreamed, the splendid things I planned  

I always built, alas, on weak and shifting sand  

I lived by night and shunned the naked light of day  

And only now I see how the years ran away  

Yesterday when I was young  

So many drinking songs were waiting to be sung  

So many wayward pleasures lay in store for me  

And so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see  

I ran so fast that time and youth at last ran out  

I never stopped to think what life was all about  

And every conversation I can now recall  

Concerned itself with me, and nothing else at all  

Yesterday the moon was blue  

And every crazy day brought something new to do  

I used my magic age as if it were a wand  

And never saw the waste and emptiness beyond 

The game of love I played with arrogance and pride  

And every flame I lit too quickly, quickly died  

The friends I made all seemed somehow to drift away  

And only I am left on stage to end the play  

There are so many songs in me that won\’t be sung  

I feel the bitter taste of tears upon my tongue 

The time has come for me to pay for yesterday when I was young 

Related: category Thought for the Day

 

Cedar Rapids, Iowa…A pair of wrestlers from The College of New Jersey remain alive at the 2008 NCAA Division III Championships as freshman Justin Bonitatis (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) and junior Greg Osgoodby (Waldwick, NJ/Waldwick) each moved into the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket on Friday.

The NCAA Championships, which are being held in Cedar Rapids, Iowa with Coe College, Cornell College and the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference serving as the hosts, will conclude on Saturday.

The top eight place winners in each weight class will earn All-American honors.

Bonitatis earned a win in his first career NCAA Tournament bout at 165 as he knocked off on fifth-seeded Shaheim Bradshaw from SUNY Brockport, 5-4. In his second match, Bonitatis faced another seeded wrestler, this time fourth-seeded Benjamin Hoover of Maranatha Baptist. Hoover pulled out an 8-7 decision putting Bonitatis in the consolation bracket. The Lion freshman got back on the winning track defeating Patrick Stanley from Johns Hopkins, 10-5. He will begin the second day of competition taking on third-seeded Gino Russo of Baldwin Wallace.

At 174 pounds, Osgoodby opened the tournament against fifth-seeded Brandon MacWhinnie from Stevens Institute of Technology, but lost by the count of 10-3. He bounced back in the consolation bracket as he pinned Augsburg\’s George Lynaugh in 2:44. In his next match, Osgoodby got past David Priest from Ithaca College by the score of 11-6 setting up his first match on Saturday against Kyle Kehrli of Cornell College.

Senior Ray Sarinelli (Rockaway, NJ/Morris Hills) opened the tournament at 133 pounds with a 6-2 decision over Luther College\’s Zac Bartlett, but then fell to David Morgan from King\’s College 9-3. Morgan is the defending national champion and seeded second in the weight class. The loss dropped Sarinelli, the seventh seed, into the consolation bracket where he fell to eighth-seeded Jestin Hulegaard of Buena Vista, 7-4.

Sarinelli finished the season with a record 28-7 and concluded his standout career at TCNJ at 90-28 and a two-time NCAA qualifier.