Looking at my life,m I'll have the usual. The usual good health, loved ones, work and rest, and laughter, The usual tears and armchair reveries, The usual memories that make me smile, And even those that do not. There have been times when life did not serve me the usual, But those times lasted only long enough to awaken me to treasure them. Gratitude is stopping and saying, "I think I'll have the usual."

If you look at a gravestone, you will see a hyphen before the date one enters the world and when one leaves it. (Is it a hyphen or a dash? I, for one, would not want to dash through life). And that little straight line is a total lie. For the ark between birth and death is a squiggly line that loops, goes backward, Up and Down Stalls And so on, but it is anything but a straight line! If it is a straight line, then you haven't done much' And face your Maker with empty hands. For the squiggly...

In the Turkish language, spring is “ilk bahar,” which is “first spring And autumn is “son bahar” or  “last spring.” May aging be my second spring, When new things calmly bloom and flourish Even as the days grow shorter. But growing shorter means that the light is limited, And work must be accomplished within less time, The days are shorter The light gentler and more finite But oh, so more valuable.