Enjoy the pleasures and freedoms that come with age.

Long ago I hitchhiked from college to Salem Hospital to meet my niece and nephew on the second day of their lives. I held them both and looked into their eyes with amazement. I have watched Amy grow from that helpless infant into a cancer researcher. My older brother Joe, Amy’s uncle, contracted prostate cancer when she was in medical school, which inspired her to investigate prostate cancer. Now she is in charge of a prostate cancer research center and lectures at conferences around the world on the subject. Because of my age, I get to see the results of choices people make good and bad. My long perspective allows me to understand the human condition better than I ever have.

I am blessed with four children, many nieces, nephews, and a few greats. The gift of growing old is to watch my family strive and learn with their personal strengths. As I leave my 60s and enter my 70s I appreciate my health, time to play tennis and pickleball with friends, and the skills that earned my living. Now I feel I have earned the pleasures of the wonderful surprises of grandchildren, an uncomplicated life, and the freedom that goes with feeling my age.

I appreciate the companionship of a handsome, caring man, best-traveling partner ever to grow old with me. I am blessed.