You get to make friends with everyone because you no longer have anything to prove…

You can crawl in the dirt looking for bugs with children and no one looks at you funny.

You get food first

There are no fights you really need to win, but many perspectives you can appreciate.

You can be hip, just by trying new things.

Your delight is delightful, especially when it has been rare, and you don’t need more things when you have so many people who love you.

Even if they don’t love you, most people who know you have enough capacity to respect you

Your wisdom runs deep but can be easily ignored because history’s voice can be quiet if we don’t listen

We are all afraid, because we are all human, but your confidence gives us courage

and succor, because we carry your hope, and the promise of the future

A torch passing is both a sad and a joyous occasion in the relay of life

red blood cells growing and dying, occasional meteor showers in the summer sky.