"FORTUNE SMILES UPON YOU AT THIS TIME" said the cookie.

And I am grateful for it. These years, enjoyed between retirement and infirmity, I've been granted some time to enjoy life and to relax, to be content.

I never realized how wound up I was, how driven by the necessity of meeting others' requirments, moving to the pace of corporate life, until I had the chance to step away from it--permanently.

Sometimes still I dream about it and wake up tense, alert.

Even during vacations from work, I could feel the incessant demands of modern life, the pounding heartbeat of the city and the workplace. No wonder the heart attack rate is highest on Monday mornings.

I am thankful to have arrived at this time in my life with my wits and my health mostly intact, with the ability to enjoy and to explore areas of my life neglected for so long.

Fortune does indeed smile upon me, and I am grateful.