Yesterday was my 67th birthday. I was overwhelmed by my well-wishers, many of whom were people I had not seen in many years. I am honored and humbled. Life is a series of events. Some are joyous while others are difficult. Life is a seamless display of snapshots.

Home is where your sense of place is. Births and deaths. Love and loss create indelible images. Friends connect us. They expand our thinking. They broaden our horizons.

Hope within brings reliable peace. Life is a gradual climb to better things. America is a land of promise. The Dream of our nation is diversity. An oasis in the desert. Hope for the hopeless help for the helpless.

Soon, we will seek direction for our nation. Did God create humans and then decide he liked only a few of them? Are the rich the successful Christians? Are they the ones who are doing it right? Is the loudest voice…the voice of wisdom?

A young woman checked me out at Aldis today. She was in the middle of a conversation I assumed she meant for me. When I inquired what she was speaking about she told me a mentally ill man was outside the door and it was disconcerting. The mentally ill need friends like the rest of us…

We spend our days waiting for the next good thing to happen to us. We search for those like us. My friends are from all strata of society…including conservative and liberal, black and white, Asian…challenged folks who I called my kids when I was Superintendent of Building Services. All wished me Happy Birthday, yesterday…

I have Gay friends who I cherish. Many of my friends will vote for the Presidential candidate differently than me. November 6th they will still be my friends.

As much as is within us…’Be at peace with all men.’