My Favorite New Senior Citizen

Today my Dad turns 65. When I think about that, a lot of new sorts of feelings come up, and some old sorts. Nostalgia generally being my favorite of them, here are a few scattered pearls of wisdom I've gleaned in 26 years of knowing him...

• Always pack a change of clothes in your carry-on bag. If not a full set, at least pack a pair of clean underwear.
• Generally, how to fix a toilet, paint walls, rake leaves, climb trees, build a fire in the fireplace, make egg salad, and ignore siblings.
• Don't run with a ruler in your mouth. But also, don't run with anything in your mouth.
• Check the integrity of the electric cord of a power tool before you use it.
• (Sung half in an ascending scale, then descending) "First you make a wee-wee, then you take a bath." That one did slip my mind yesterday afternoon, actually.
• The value of a hot cup of tea... any time of day, any time of year.
• The value of "toast fingers". Especially when served with bacon, eggs, and a hot cup of tea.
• Yesterday, the meaning of Dollar Cost Averaging.
• Just keep taking the medication. Everything will be fine.
• Why you should keep your hearing aid on no matter what... oh, sorry. We haven't reached that stage yet.

In fact, my Dad is 65 and he still has a full head of red hair (with just a touch of grey). He looked just dashing in his tails & ascot at my sister's wedding last month.

H. B., Dad. Enjoy all your new discounts, and don't spend your $0.22 pension check from the British government all in one place.