Hello Oldie

Wifey was watching a documentary last night about the venerable Carol Channing. We wondered whether she was still alive, and a quick Wikipedia search showed she was, and also that her father was a light skinned black man. For some reason, I found that very cool... I remembered that I met her once, during my Spring Break as a first year law student, when she was dining with the cast of some show at the most expensive restuarant I had ever been in. I was dating a girl named Pam, a grad student at Rice who I had met in Albuquerque ("Al-Bee" as she called it), and after staying with me for a fortnight, said she wanted to treat us to the best place in Miami. Back in '84, that was a place in the Alexander Hotel, famous for being able to order "exotic" things like ostrich. Anyway, the point of this is that they sat us next to Ms. Channing, and I said hello, and told her thanks for all her entertaining of people, or some such dumb thing, and she charmingly replied that not too many straight young men were fans. But I remembered thinking she was ANCIENT -- like a relic from a long time past. I now realize she was 61 -- just 10 years older than I am now. Then again, at my wedding (not to Pam, but to Wifey, of course) 3 years later, my elderly mother attended. To me, she was OLD. In January of 1987, my mother was 66. Our friend Diane is single, and Wifey is helping her find matches on JDate, even though she's not Jewish (like many women, Diane has realized that Jewish men are the hottest on the planet --they typically say that once you go Jew, you never go back) and she's nearly that age! Boy -- this means that, at 51, when I smile at the pretty young workers on Brickell Avenue, they smile back, but aren't wondering whether I'm single, they're wondering whether I have grandkids. The other day, D2 and I were chatting about one of my friends, and how, at nearly 62, he was complaining about pain. "Well Dad," she said, "he IS old as fuuuuu...." She was kind enough to leave off the c and the k... I don't know. I look in the mirror and see gray hair and, oh, maybe 40 extra pounds, and I think, well, I AM closer to grandpa than starting grad school. I plan to visit Mom today -- she looks like she'll very likely make 93 in April. Wifey and I saw her 4 days ago, and she was so happy and pleasant and appreciative. The ice cream sandwich she SAVORED was the "most delicious ever." That must be the answer, if you're given a lot of years: appreciate them. Rock (or at least slouch) on, Carol Channing.