Thoughts on being 84

On his eighty-fourth birthday a man should have profound comments to make, wise words of information and inspiration to pass along. I don't.
I did not make it this far through any effort on my part. I have never done any of the things that supposedly insure longevity. Just the opposite, actually. I have always had a pipe or cigarette in my mouth throughout the day. I have heard "last call" in bars from New York to Los Angeles and in more than a few across the sea. I have taken chances when there was no need to do so. Unless it has led me to somewhere I wanted to go, exercise has been conscientiously avoided. Doctors orders have been used as a guide to doing the opposite. I often wrote of having no fear of dying too soon but a real fear of living too long. Yet here I am.
Were someone to ask me for advice - no one has - I would say do the things you enjoy, avoid those that you don't, never work at a job you don't love, pursue any goal with no holds barred, and never take life or yourself too seriously.
I'm one of the few who remember the Wall Street Crash of 1929. When people were talking about it I thought they meant an automobile accident. That may be as good a description of it as any given by economists and other wise men. I had the real advantage of growing up and maturing during the Great Depression. Believe me, it was an advantage. I have taken part in some of history's great battles, experienced the fun and excitement of being a private eye and a cab driver, worked as a newspaper reporter during the prime years of the business when it was very much like you'll read in The Front Page and other stories of the old days.
I haven't done it all but I've come close. The world being what it is today, I wouldn't want to be a day younger than I am. It has been a great ride, an exciting, adventurous journey and that is good enough for me.
Thank you for your kind attention and don't do anything I wouldn't do. That leaves you with a wide-open field ahead.


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