On the seventy-fifth anniversary of his birth
he had a medical procedure, passed the test
with flying colors and, because of his age,
won’t ever have to have that procedure

again. The physician said he graduated from
Colonoscopy U. In an unrelated health issue,
he’s been moaning and groaning about failing
eyesight in one eye. He has experienced some

tragedies over the years, but he has survived,
in fact, thrived and is still trail jogging, albeit
more slowly and with the assistance of his
beloved hiking sticks. He has a theory that

if time in the womb and the first five years go
really well with lots of love and hugs, a kid
can endure just about anything life throws at
him or her. On the same day, a kid celebrates

his sixteenth birthday by going to school and
shooting five fellow students and himself. The
senior citizen wonders how the kid’s first five
years went. Then he gives thanks for all those

hugs and all those kisses and all those sincere
declarations of love he experienced. He hasn’t
done any research on his early-childhood theory
and it might not hold water any better than a

rusty, old bucket, but he figures it can’t hurt and
he gives thanks for all the hugs, kisses and sincere
declarations of love his own kids got. They have
gone through some tough stuff, but they, too, have

survived and thrived and, as for the grandkids?
Ditto. Knock on wood, he thinks. He says a prayer
of gratitude on the anniversary of his birth and then
he prays for all those kids at that high school and

then he prays for sensible gun regulation and that
legislators will wake up, hear the screams and smell
the gun powder.