Friday
It is my birthday. I am 67 years
old. That is too damned old. I don’t like it. No, sir, I don’t like
it. Obviously, the alternatives are also bad.
I awakened way too tired. Our son, Tommy, his staggeringly
beautiful wife, Kitty, their lovely five month old daughter, Cora,
and their Cocker Spaniel, Buglette, showed up at our house here in
Rancho Mirage at about ten p.m. last night. I brought them to our
condo at a nearby country club that we keep for guests. I think
it’s a great condo but Tommy didn’t like it. He thought it had some
kind of evil energy. Plus there was a large black van parked nearby
that made him nervous.
So, at about midnight, I got him and his family a room at
a nearby Marriott, went over with them to check in, and then headed
home.
I felt put upon, but I swam under a perfectly clear sky
with bright constellations everywhere and then I felt better, and
then great.
This morning, I went over to my 12-step meeting. It was a
reassuring meeting. This program, basically of turning my life over
to God and surrendering my will to him, has saved my life over and
over again. Now, my wife is in the program. It has saved my wife’s
life and basically given her back to me after her soul was being
stolen by an illness. I am so grateful I cannot even express it.
This program is a miracle of God. After the meeting, I had leftover
turkey from yesterday’s Thanksgiving dinner here at Morningside
Country Club. It was fantastically tasty. Canned Ocean Spray
cranberry sauce adds to the delight.
Then, a long nap. I awakened to put some thoughts together
about a lawsuit that is being threatened against me by a
disgruntled family friend and helper in my career. It is an amazing
story and I might tell it in detail some day. For now, let’s just
say it would make Kim Philby envious for its stunning betrayal of
trust.
As I was noodling about this fantastic fantasy issue, I
got a call from a relative. I won’t dwell on it except to say it
was extremely depressing.
Then, my son, his wife, daughter and their dog showed up
for birthday dinner at a casual restaurant. I was dreading it,
mostly because I was in such a down mood after my conversation with
my relative.
And, bang, miracle! As our salads arrived, my son and his
wife recalled various incidents in recent years that were and are
extremely — and I mean extremely — helpful to my truthful side of
my issue with the woman I mentioned a moment ago (a woman my wife
and I used to love and adore).
I thanked him and his wife and they fixed me with the most
serious look I have ever seen them wear. “We will do anything to
make sure the truth gets across in this thing,” my daughter-in-law
said.
“Anything to make sure that people know the truth,” my son
said. “I will stop anything I am doing, and so will Kitty, to make
sure the truth is known.”
I was overwhelmed. The devotion of my wife, son, and
daughter-in-law really just bowled me over. I was just floored. I
knew they were committed to the truth but I had no idea of the
depth of their feeling. I have never seen anything like this from
my son before. He was intense.
Many years ago, my father was working at the White House
as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. I was a
speechwriter for Mr. Nixon. I asked my father for help with a
statistic. I said, “Please only do it if you don’t have anything
more important to do.”
He looked at me in amazement in his office on the third
floor of the Old EOB. He put his Kent cigarette in the brown smoked
glass ashtray and exhaled. “What do you think I have to do that’s
more important than helping my only son?” he asked me.
I will be thinking about that moment until I die. I will
remember tonight until I die. My son. My ally in life’s struggles.
How sweet it is.
Take that, trial lawyers who love publicity. You have
given me my son. This was the best birthday dinner of my
life.
