"At birth, we boarded the train of life and met our parents, and we believed that they would always travel by our side. However, at some station, our parents would step down from the train, leaving us on life's journey alone.

As time goes by, some significant people will board the train: siblings, other children, friends, and even the love of our life.

Many will step down and leave a permanent vacuum.  Others will go so unnoticed that we won't realize that they vacated their seats! This train ride has been a mixture of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hellos, goodbyes, and farewells.

A successful journey consists of having a good relationship with all passengers, requiring that we give the best of ourselves. The mystery that prevails is that we do not know at which station we ourselves will step down. Thus, we must try to travel along the track of life in the best possible way -- loving, forgiving, giving, and sharing.

I invite you to watch this video clip (which runs about four and a half minutes)... especially, if you enjoy thinking about the various people with whom you share connections.

The following video shows the scene during which Kevin shares his secret and explains his painting.

If you are not familiar with the "This is Us" story line, then a few of the scenes may be puzzling. But, in the end, Kevin brings it together, when he softly utters the words, "This is us."

A secret is shared, during the fifth episode of the first season of  "This Is Us," a television series that debuted on NBC, in October 2016,

One of the characters (Kevin) reveals that he likes to paint and, as proof, he displays one of his art pieces.

At first glance, Kevin's painting appears to be nothing more than a mishmash of paint strokes and drippings. But, then, Kevin explains his art work and his words give unexpected meaning to his painting.

As a result of his explanation, like the railroad track image and essay above, Kevin's painting can be viewed as a metaphor of life.

Sometime in the distant past, it occurred to me that a train ride could serve as a metaphor for life.

People boarding and exiting the train at various times and places along the route, all headed in the same direction, sharing time, space, and experiences with family and friends, all moving forward at the same speed - with time passing at the same rate for everyone, ... yet each person on his or her own personal and unpredictable journey.  

As the years rolled by, I occasionally shared that "life as a train" metaphor with a few people; but, I never felt that my description was adequate. Then, one day, quite by accident, I found the following image and text on the Internet.  

I am sharing them here, on the chance that you might appreciate the sentiment. Unfortunately, I could not determine the name of the artist or author.

Life as a train ride...

Life as a painting...

Over the years, I've noticed that...