Honestly, heathcliffe, having you here is almost like having one of my parents. Mom was born in 1924 and dad in 1928. Great people, both grew up pretty damn poor, joined the army, and then went to college on the GI Bill. Not many women did that in the 40s. Mom was a liberal from the get-go and dad got over his Roman Catholic conservatism in his 40s and joined the left, the world of skepticism, and poured out his opinions in many letters-to-the-editor. They weren't far, far out there loonies, just smart, decent folks who realized that we have obligations to each other. Mom was "spiritual", not one for organized religion and she truly loathed bigots and the sanctimony of so many good Christians. Dad was deeper in his unbelief but it took four decades to get over all the crap shoveled into his parochial school brain. I remember him saying how embarrassed he was that he had not questioned things earlier in his adult life. And he routinely admitted that Catholics weren't encouraged to read the Bible. Had he done that, he surely would have realized the lunacy and the hand of men in all those pages.  You would have enjoyed each other, and truly, given your smarts, experience, and inherent decency, we all benefit greatly from your presence and wisdom. So dammit, don't think about leaving us anytime soon, sir!

Peter T.