Toys R Us is dead and gone, and I always could relate a little bit to its ditty, "I don't wanna grow up, I'm a Toys R Us kid..." I once had that thought in a Toys R Us as grade school wore on, not the words of the song, which I don't think existed, but knowing I never wanted to get so old in mind and heart that I had no interest in toys. My dad had seconds before admitted that he wasn't really interested in toys, and when you grow up, you tend not to be. That seemed such a loss and so sad, I resolved never to forget. But I did.

I must say, ruefully or not, that I'm not very interested in toys at all. I am, however, interested in play, very much so, and just having a sense of humor and imagination, and I've never quite lost my interest in games. Even there, and this I find regrettable, I have lost most of my enthusiasm. Sometimes it's there - maybe in full - also evolved. If I hadn't been trying so hard not to lose the last vestiges, I probably would have. But I was trying so hard, at least some of the time, and so I have kept what I think is more than reasonable to keep.

It's less that I'm a Toys R Us kid than that I'm a Pinocchio kid. "If you wish upon a star..."