For most of my life I assumed that my life span would be the traditional “three score and ten” years. This month I celebrated my eighty-ninth birthday and realized that I have had nineteen years since my warranty ran out, a remarkable bonus. This got me thinking about all the wonderful things I would have missed if I had indeed cashed in my chips in 2001. Most important of course are the fifteen wonderful years my wife and I had together since then, a blessing that easily overshadows the four empty years since she died.
I have been fortunate to share these years with my three children. Beth and her family now live near Sewickley and are determined to make sure I enjoy my declining years. John’s business interests take him all around the world; he visits here frequently. Sara’s family is in Fort Collins, Colorado; we have enjoyed many happy visits with them.
And then, there are the grand-children, all of whom were born in those nineteen years. Ian, now eighteen, is preparing to matriculate at the University of Colorado next month. Watching him grow up has been a real treat; the two summers he stayed with me while he went to Jazz Camp at Duquesne were especially rewarding.
Rachael just turned sixteen. It seems like yesterday when she was a tiny child at Suzuki Camp playing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” on a size 1/10 violin. She has progressed impressively and is joining the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra in the Fall. She certainly has inherited her love for and commitment to music from my wife.
Nora is fifteen; it has been a thrill to watch her make the transformation from a would-be tomboy ten years ago to the well-rounded young lady she is today. She is the most gifted athlete in the family; I have enjoyed watching her play soccer and basketball.
Her sister Claire is now twelve and a classic “third child” (like her mother), low key, unflappable, and seemingly capable of excelling at anything she tackles – sports, scholastics, music, etc.
And then there is Lai An, now seven years old, an age when children seem to change every day. Her development is reminiscent of watching a rosebud open up a little more every day, with a more beautiful version each day. Thanks to the miracle of Zoom and FaceTime we get regular updates almost every day.
Nineteen bonus years! Wonderful vacations – Hawaii, Alaska, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Hatteras, Donner Lake – what a blessing that we were able to enjoy them together, many of them with our whole family!
Spectacular sunsets at Conneaut Lake, Hawaii (the “Big” Island), and Donner Lake (over Snoopy Rock). Memorable Full Moon Rises, each one seeming to surpass its predecessors. Fifteen of those years we spent many happy days at our cottage at Conneaut Lake. Hard to imagine anything more enjoyable than being on the deck of the cottage with my wife hard at work on one of her paintings. I am glad I didn’t miss that.
The sports fan in me is glad to have enjoyed two Super Bowl wins for the Steelers and three Stanley Cups for the Penguins. Although we only went to one Steeler game in those nineteen years, the Penguins were a different story. Nan was a passionate hockey fan; we had season tickets each year until she died. My fondest memories are of Section 15 in Mellon Arena, cantilevered out high above “the goal the Penguins shoot on twice”.
Because of Nan’s love of music we have had season tickets to the Pittsburgh Symphony for nearly fifty years. The several hundred concerts I have attended in the past nineteen years have been priceless.
Nineteen Springs in my beloved woods, watching the jack-in-the-pulpits and Mayflowers fight their way up through the thick blanket of dead leaves, and searching for trillium. Eighteen Autumns watching the leaves make the transition to every imaginable shade of gold and crimson and waiting for the bittersweet to ripen and their berries to pop their skins.
How fortunate I have been to participate with my Book Club all these years. We have read over 200 books in these nineteen years. The best thing about the Book Club is the companionship with the other members. Our makeup has changed gradually through the years, but has always consisted of men that would be great candidates for “best friend”.
My other favorite male bonding group is our Octogenarian Brunch Club. It too has changed in makeup as members of our BHS Class of 1949 have left us. To make up for their loss, we have added members of other classes who were in school with us, including my brother Joe.
Had I died in 2001, I would have missed the Bridgeville Area Historical Society completely. Their evolution from a simple idea to the impressive organization they are today has been remarkable. Through the Society I have had many enjoyable historical experiences and have gotten to know a lot of truly wonderful people well.
In 2001 I had been teaching in the Civil Engineering Department at Pitt for eight years. My ability to continue that effort for seventeen more years is indeed a blessing. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to get to know many of the students first hand. Equally rewarding is the companionship I found with my fellow faculty members, another collection of potential (and several actual) “best friends”.
What else would I have missed? Nearly a thousand of these columns, including five or six each year that really pleased me. Two hundred pen-and-ink sketches, including a couple of dozen that pleased me (mostly barns!). Another two hundred of my wife’s paintings, nearly all of which pleased me.
As I reflect on all the wonderful things that I have experienced in these nineteen bonus years I suspect Lou Gehrig was wrong when he declared that he was “the luckiest man who ever lived”.