Happy birthday

Today is Tal's 84th birthday. Needless to say, he had a cake. He could have had two!

And, he had cards and two gifts. He opened the cards during morning coffee. He opened my gift to him at the same time. That was gift number one. (Binoculars, by the way.)

Then, well, it was the day before leaving on a trip, he played golf, we delivered Belle and Whitby to All God's Creatures, the washer churned, the dryer hummed, the car got a once-over, the house didn't. Busy and wrenching.

Then, after 6:00 came the telephone call -- a personal call from Tal's doctor. None of the tests run yesterday during his marathon at the Imaging Center revealed anything the doctor suspected. "Finish the antibiotic," he said. "Go on your trip. We'll talk when you get home."

Gift number two.

Happy birthday to us both.