Having crossed
the 82nd meridian of life I pause to wish a Merry Christmas and Happy
New Year to those living people who played a significant role in my vibrant, interesting and mostly pleasurable
life, to wit: my brother and sisters; neighbors and boyhood friends in places I
lived; teachers from first grade through high school and fellow students
encountered along the way; folks I worked with prior to going in the service
and those I hung with after work; men and women I was privileged to associate
with during eight years of Air Force service, including those who trained me
and advanced my career; the wonderful people over the next 50 years who I met in
my work, college and graduate school, community, church, political and social
life; my five children
who made me and their late mother proud by turning out
to be good people in their own lives and mating with a good husband and wives and
making us proud grandparents; the many folks we came in contact with around the
world, especiallyin China, Australia
and South Africa; doctors and nurses who have helped keep me going all these
years; the fine women and men who cared for my wife in her advanced and
declining years; those neighbors and strangers who became fast friends and sustained
me in many wonderful ways during those difficult years; and my new wife
and her
family and the recently acquired friends and neighbors who continue to make my
life worth living.
Merry Christmas one and
all and Happy New Year!
