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Terribly Strange “ H ow terribly strange to be 70” is a line in the Simon and Garfunkel song “Old Friends” on the Bookends album. That album was released in April of 1968. At that time I was 19 and Paul Simon who wrote the song would have been 26. When I listened to that song back then that line said to me that it must feel strange to be old, a shadow of your former self with your life largely behind you and with just a small part ahead of you. I don't know what Paul thought about it but being in his 20's I can't imagine his thinking was too much different. Well, I am finishing up my 70 th year as I turn 70 today. It has not been an easy year in that I got a bad case of shingles on my face and around my eye. I got it in June and it was very bad for about 6 weeks. It was another 6 to 8 weeks before it calmed down enough to where I started feeling like my old self. This experience caused me to face my mortality more than I ever had before. I had been very

Cyd and the Barrington Gang Martha - Valerie - Cyd A s a teenager my comfort level with the opposite sex decreased as the level of my interest and/or attraction to a girl increased. The more attractive and desirable I found her the more cautious and withdrawn I became. In general I got along with girls rather well but when I met a girl I was attracted to my ability to function normally, be myself, engage in conversation, etc., went on break. That changed once I met my first wife Donna. Once I got together with her there really was no one else for me and as a result my attraction to another woman, no matter how great, no longer had that kind of effect on me. I suppose because I was only interested in Donna. After our marriage ended, the combination of all the events and experiences I'd been through in a relatively short amount of time left me on the mature side for my age. Even though I was no longer with Donna I was confident and at ease with all women. I felt wome