When you face death, so close you can smell its breath, you realize profound truths. About the value of life. Small pleasures are actually bigger than small, rich opportunities abound, and life offers a platter of pleasures.
In age we can cherish redolent memories of delightful experiences. I've been lucky to have many. Remembering them, the people I shared them with, and the joy I found balances the scale against decrepitude.
Some years ago my good friend Aimee took me on vacation to an idyllic spot: the Thousand Islands of St. Lawrence River (near the east end of Lake Ontario). The area, separating Canada from the U.S., contains 1,864 individual islands. A century ago it was the summer playground of wealthy New Yorkers, attracted to ineffable natural beauty.
Aimee and I took a ferry boat from Alexandria Bay to Singer Castle and Boldt Castle, locations now available to the hoi polloi. The June day was sunny, bright and dreamy. Cool zephyrs greeted us like friends on the boat-ride. The atmosphere -- and indeed entire day -- was sublime.
I'll never forget the peace, calm and pleasure I felt that day. Health, eyesight and a caring friend were present, with not a hint of trauma waiting in the near future.
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