Losing Bill

Last week my dear friend Bill passed away. It can be truthfully called a blessing for him and for him family. Bill had suffered for at least ten years from Alzheimer's, one of life's cruelest afflictions. It began with a lost sense of direction that his wife Sandra noticed on a trip to Italy. After that it progressed to loss of driving, loss of appropriate behavior, loss of speech, loss of recognition of friends and family. Loss, loss, loss. Bill was one of the world's kindest people with a great appetite for affection, music, beer, and laughter. He was devoted to his family and to his friends, always addressing me as "HonEEEY." He cried easily. He's the person who sailed our boat to the Chesapeake with John when we moved to Washington from Toronto in 1978. He's the one who organized the chop-your-own-Christmas-tree outing when our children were little. He's the one you could always count on. Rest in peace, my friend. I'm going to miss you.

Being 80

I learned a new word this week. Marionnette lines. Apparently, this is what I've had on my face for some time now. The way I found out about them is that, after turning 80 in June, I decided that I would investigate what could be done about my "jowlly" look. I don't have many forehead wrinkles (for my age), but I do have these twin vertical lines that run from either side of my nose down to my mouth and then disappear into a sea of wrinkles that sort of wander off to the side. Both sides, that is. The situation is too far gone for makeup and, it appears, also too far gone for cosmetic surgery. Fillers for the Marionnettes at $1200 would be useless unless raised up with the aid of cheek fillers at $1400. Oh, and all this would have to be done annually (for the Marionnettes) and bi-annually (for the cheeks). With no guarantee that there would be any visible change. In fact, probably not. Did I mention the bruising? Anyone on a blood thinner (Xarelto for me!) is prone to more extensive bruising from these treatments than other (younger) people. Of course, the bruising goes away, but I had to ask myself: is this worth it?