When I would call my parents and speak with my dad, the first thing I would ask him was , "Dad, how are you doing today?" He would invariably answer, "Not bad for someone who is closer to one hundred than to fifty". I've been "inching" towards a hundred for the past 25 years, when I said  "goodbye" to fifty, which will become more apparent in thirteen days. "Oh well, not much, if anything, can be done about it. However, it does serve as a platter of reflections heaped with "shoulda's, coulda's woulda's", and a large sideorder of  "shouldn't haves" and "lessons learned."
I find myself having lost interest in 'materialism." What once seemed
to be important, no longer 'is', if it ever 'was'.... in the first place. But, what I do have is absolutely "PRICELESS!" Although my wife Karen   is no longer on this mortal earth, she lives in our son, and in our grandchildren. They are my Christmas gifts every day, of every week, of every month, of every year, which is how it should be. My 'waning years' are for them.

I ask for no more than that!!

r.riddle: 11-25-2016