Today I am eighty years old. Nate, you and Tom are about the most impressive guys on the site to me.

Nate fights genetic pre disposition big time in children. I have never really considered if it can be really overcome. It perhaps is the component that actually differentiates each of us from each other. This is a real factor with foster children.

Far too many children enter the system with pathetic existing genetic inherited tendencies. There is really not much can be done about it

I ran across one last weekend who was at the cottage with his mother. On top of everything else he had the largest chip on his shoulder I may have ever seen. My guess is whatever he inherited from his fathers genes is so bad I would not like to meet the father. Who is long gone of course.

Tom is somewhat like me I suspect. A better person hopefully but also like me seems to keep his plate loaded. I am having some trouble with reducing my loading. I do not want to totally retire but I do want less to do.

At the same time i feel very fortunate that age so far has been pretty kind to me. Physically I am still in decent condition. Mentally my self judgement is subjective.

So far so good is about the only self evaluation I can muster. Specifically my mild temperment is still intact.

Although I was a little concerned the other day when I forgot exactly where i parked a car in a very large mall lot. Then I remembered I had the same issue decades ago.

Nate may be the luckiest guy I have ever run across. Starting life on his own at age eight is remarkable. That he even survived it would not be expected.

The general time period the three of us have lived through so far unfortunatly in many ways is history.