“What day is it?”
It’s today,” squeaked Piglet.
My favorite day,” said Pooh.”
― A.A. Milne

Today is my birthday.  This is unquestionably the best day of my life. Ever!  I am on Hilton Head Island with my little Denis, the sweetest guy on earth.

We are surrounded by the glistening Atlantic Ocean, white sand, yellow sun and blue sky!  And palm trees and sea grasses! My hernia operation has healed. Thanks to my rediscovery of prunes I am regular. I have everything I have ever wanted (even though I have a double chin and a protuberant belly and my old skin looks like onion paper). I love my Cadillac. I love my fake diamond ring. And I am growing my hair; it’s getting longer every day!  I also have an egg-yolk yellow sweater, a navy blue sweater, a striped blue and white sweater, new deck shoes (one pair is an orangey color, the other mahogany). My routine breakfast of 3 ham slices, 2 cheese slices, one egg (fried in extra virgin olive oil with shards of fresh Rosemary à la Sardinia) and 6 halved grape tomatoes is perfect! We only eat two meals a day because we spend on average 2 to 4 hours bicycling on the beach.  Dinner always includes a magnificent large salad with fresh chopped vegetables, anchovies and superb Gruyère cheese from Fresh Market. When we occasionally dine out, it’s an adventure. I get to wear my yellow or blue sweater and my new shoes.  And of course I get to drive my Cadillac and wear my pinky ring which I polish every morning with Colgate toothpaste! Sometimes I put pommade in my hair, the really good stuff that we ordered from Kiehl’s, a combination of the silky, shiny, oily stuff and the dry paste. If it’s cool I have a XXL yellow windbreaker with a dark blue stripe; it’s from Harris Teeter and cost $19.99! It’s exactly two years since I’ve had a drop of alcohol (which I can tell you I do not miss at all).

As convinced as I am of the superlative nature of the present, I am able to look back on the past with a smile and forward to the future with anticipation. I have reconciled myself to  the oddities of my past.  I am proud of what little I accomplished in my life. I have adjusted to the mediocrity of myself and others.  I am proud of my family, I love my mother and father (moreso his memory as he is dead now) and my sister.  I am also proud of the heritage of the two sides of my family, my mother’s humble, sparkling clean, hard working side, and my father’s prosperous, distinguished side. While I don’t have a lot of friends, I appreciate the ones I have (though they’re all whackier than I).  I am of course happy that my open-heart surgery is behind me. That was close! We have already booked our digs here for another five months next year so the horizon is nothing but blue sky. Life owes me nothing!

Every Friday morning I have a new publication in the Millstone News.  I adore Edith Cody-Rice for making it all happen! In addition to my tedious writing, I regularly cultivate my amateur creative outlets of photography and the keyboard. They give new meaning to modesty but I nonetheless thrive on them!

I am quite content to descend into old age without a bang.  Life hasn’t become at all flavourless in spite of being far less complicated. I regale in not having to pretend or put on airs or hope for anything different. I would not change a thing!  Nothing!