When
a celebrity recently gave thanks for the “large honor” she had received, I
started saying a silent thanks for all kinds of large honors I’ve received.
Starting with my surprising presence on this startling planet in a snug house with
a beyond-belief wife who, lucky for me, loves me -- what larger honor could I
receive? And each morning I manage to wake up to a world of skies and trees and
streets and houses and people and parades of endlessly strange present moments.
Is this not a large daily honor for me? Also, I spent 45 years teaching
teenagers, and I felt, from the start, that it was a high honor to walk into
the classroom each morning. Each day, I felt like someone pinned an honorary medal
on me and said, “You have been selected to receive the title of ‘Teacher of
Teenagers’. Be grateful for this great honor.” I was grateful, always,
and still am – grateful now, too, for the honor of being a bald, somewhat
creased, but more-daring-and-cheerful-than-ever senior citizen. It is indeed an
honor to be 72. I say to all those young 71-year-olds: Stay brave. One day you too might
be honored with the shining “72 Years of Lucky Living” medal.
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