A Senior Citizen's First Email

Things are quiet here, a friend writes in the first email of his long life: Most mornings I drive to Gillson Park, sit and read beside the Lake. The waves are a symphony. Books are better there. Sometimes a redwing blackbird will attack, protecting its nest. The weather's cool and there's rain at night. It's not summer in Chicago as you and I remember it. I have a cell phone now too and I use it all the time. The landline's just a holdover from the good old days. Speaking of holdovers, we should get together while we still can. At our age, who knows how long either of us has. People our age drop dead without too much ado. Tell you what: Whoever gets sick first will notify the other one who'll take a plane and race death to see who arrives at the bedside first. If I'm talking to a priest, wait outside. Forget the small stuff like amputations. They have prosthetics now for everything except for tallywhackers. Who needs more kids anyway. My wife will send you an email if I die. Ask your wife to do the same for me. Donal Mahoney