Cycle of Life

I am in that phase of life where all things are equally likely. Think of, for example, "Alumni Notes." When one is a recent graduate, the notes are all about jobs and graduate school. Evenutally the stories move into family-making. Later, some deaths begin to occur. Looking ahead at the remaining alumni from the '30s (the '20s are...done), all messages that are not about death are of the "no news is good news" variety.

I am of the age where all the icons of my life are passing. Marcel Marceau died yesterday. While I did not like his work (I prefer his teacher, Etienne Decroux), I respected the man (and his penchant for cognac and cigars). Maleine L'Engle died a couple of weeks ago. Ed Bradley (who was only a SECONDARY icon, a relatively recent addition to 60 Minutes). Lots of "personalities" I "grew up with." I had better start replacing them or the world will become foreign.

At the other end of the spectrum, one of my close friends just had his first child (well, his wife did, but you know what I mean). She (the baby) is beautiful, and likely to be a runner some day. Of course, his daughter will have to outrun mine: good luck!