Pen Pals, Honesty and Age

      I received my latest pen pal letter from Tyler, a second-grader at a nearby elementary school.  We’ve been trading pen pal letters since the beginning of the school year.  When I signed up as a volunteer, I was told to ask questions in my letters to keep the correspondence flowing.  I assume Tyler was told to do the same, although in one letter his only question was, “What’s your favorite color?”  There’s only so much you can say to that.

       But I have to admit that I kinda took offense at a question he asked with his latest page of handwritten scribbles.  Here’s what he said:  “I stayed up till twelve on New Year’s.  Did you?”

       Now I probably took his question the wrong way . . . as an affront to my energy level, stamina and ability to celebrate on one of the premier party nights of the year.  So here’s how I wanted to respond . . .

       “Yes, Tyler.  My wife and I attended a large party on New Year’s Eve where we won a jazz dance competition for couples.  We were the last ones to leave the party at 3 a.m. and then stopped for extra greasy burgers and French fries at Denny’s.  Afterwards, we realized that the local gym opens at 5 a.m. so we swung by there to do our daily workout before going home to bed.”

      But they encourage honesty in our writing so I had to tell the truth.  I DID stay up till twelve, but only after I had taken a little nap earlier that evening around nine o’clock.  And my wife went to sleep at our usual bed-time, which is ten.  So she missed the ringing in of the new year.

     Oh well, such is life when you’re north of 65.  My curiosity these days doesn’t lead me to learn about the latest dance craze so much as I am wondering about these healing vortices I hear they have in Arizona.  We’ll be traveling through there soon in our yearly escape, brief though it may be, from the treacherous Michigan winter here.

      I’m not kidding about treacherous either.  This morning the missus took a fall while we were shoveling snow, aggravating her already arthritic knee.  I hope you don’t have to climb a mountain for that healing vortex.  Maybe it’s at a highway rest area or a McDonalds.  Better yet, maybe it’s at a hotel hot tub!

      Worse off was my wife’s pub buddy who lives in the same town we do (my wife goes to the pub once a month with a sister and a few of their friends).  She slipped on the ice today and broke her ankle.   Now she’s hospitalized with a physical therapy appointment to see if she can recuperate at home. That’s not something you want in your sixties.

       Anyhoo, where was I?  Oh, my pen pal.   I did ask Tyler about a Christmas gift he received, that “Alexa” talking machine.  Just curious what “Alexa” tells him.  I can’t remember what else I wrote to Tyler because I dropped off his letter at the local senior center on Friday and I don’t keep a copy.  So I don’t remember (I worry about repeating myself in my letters sometimes).

        Hmmmm, wonder if those healing vortices can help with my short-term memory.