I started my 74th year of life today
Sounds strange, 74. It was actually my 73rd birthday, but a birthday marks the end of a year. I am celebrating the beginning of the next.
When Jackie and I first landed in Rochelle, I said we would only be here 5 years. She would be done with her degree, I would have had some experience in newspapers, and we would move on to a bigger community.
That was 1970.
Are there days I regret still being here? Of course.
But I don't think I could have made the friends I have anyplace else on earth.
There are people who have put up with my clowning, my goofiness, my forgetfulness, my thoughtlessness and have stayed my friends. Good friends. Friends I would not trade for all the fame or money in the world. Well, maybe for a lot of money...but that'a just hypothetical.
Sometimes I am astounded at their friendship, and all the time I am grateful.
I look back at my life and realize how lucky I have been. Two daughters and a wife who love me, despite my faults. Friends from grade school days who still keep in contact and do things with me. Friends from Rochelle, some of whom are like sisters or daughters or brothers.
Yes, there are some who gave up on me. And I wish they would give me a second chance, but that doesn't look possible.
And there are others who have moved away but still keep in contact.
I am thankful for each and every one of them. And of you, people who read my nightly drivel.
Every time I watch "It's a Wonderful Life," I cry when George opens his book and sees Clarence's message: No man is a failure who has friends.
I truly am a successful person.
Stay healthy. Stay safe.
Peace and Love
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