Life at 55...............

I watched snow clouds whip across Mt. McKinley. I gave the eulogy at my Mothers funeral. I viewed the magnificent Ware Collection of Glass Flowers at Harvard University. I watched two healthy sons come into the world. I have seen the pristine beauty of New Zealand. I waded into the “crowd” on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. I hunted elk in the Big Horn Mountains above Yellow Tail Dam with Robert Yellow Tail. I hunted dinosaur fossils in the Badlands. I stood at Michael Milkens X-shaped trading desk in the Beverly Hills office of Drexel Burnham Lambert. I have shot 10-point bucks in their beds. I was accepted into 5 law schools. I have eaten in the lobster houses of Baja. I know the thrill of Space Mountain. I looked down from the Eiffel Tower. I caught fish in Canada till my arms ached. I walked the Salomon Brothers trading floor in 7 World Trade before the 9/11 disaster. I have seen the treasures of King Tut. I know the biggest components of net worth are great health and the ability to function. I made long ocean swims in the cold. I looked down from a helicopter over Yankee Stadium. I learned that if it is a problem about money it is not really a problem. I felt the heat and humidity in Tahiti. I know the sting of frost-bite.I still want to be the winning jockey on the winning horse in the Kentucky Derby. I was in the Swiss Banks in Geneva. I have seen the Crown Jewels. I watched schools of tuna in a feeding frenzy. I watched 3 space missions blast off. I sipped scotch at the Ritz in Paris. I have walked the most beautiful beaches in the world. I have eaten shrimp the size of lobsters and octopus the size of shrimp in Australia. I bucked off bucking horses. I know the best hugs come from your own children. I am still pained by the massacre at Wounded Knee. I saw aurora borealis so bright I thought I was seeing heaven from earth. I have heard the primordial howling of coyotes across many sunsets. I partied in the original Hotel California. I have seen death in many forms. . I looked Mona Lisa in the eye. I sailed from Catalina Island to the mainland. I was awarded a college degree. I learned I chose excellent parents. I admired Mt. Blanc from Café di Midi”. I trapped hundreds of fox. I shot antelope at 600 yards and missed coyotes at 8 steps. I have been in planes that have landed on ice, on water and in pastures. I have ridden a motorcycle across much of America. I have felt hypothermia. I identified hundreds of different birds. I have been lost in the Louvre. I watched the Challenger explode on TV. I have had more fun than any man should have. I have broken bones. I have been to the diamond cutters in Amsterdam. I grew up in the poorest county in America. I lived in LaJolla. I marched as a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point. I know leverage works both ways in the stock market. I lost my best friend to a lightning strike. I miss my grandparents more every year. I saw two million birds in one flock. I know a wide smile and hitchhiking go hand in hand. I learned that success has nothing to do with money and everything to do with how you feel about yourself. I never smoked a cigarette. I have felt the roar of a rushing Minnesota river in the spring. I danced in Studio 54. I know the beauty of Diamond Head. I know the laughter of friends and the spite of enemies. I know the power of big surf. I trapped coyotes in Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness. I looked into the crater of Mt. Saint Helen’s. I have been to two Olympic Games. I still dream big dreams. I know the gurgle of the Mississippi River headwaters. I know Native American racism. I have owned my share of winning stocks. I always questioned my dentist. I remember the Blizzard of 1975. I nearly capsized by migrating whales. I only eat sushi with chopsticks. I ate breakfast at Harry’s in LaJolla and lunched at Harry’s on Wall Street. I was on the flight deck of the USS Kitty Hawk during F-14 training operations. I looked down on Chamonix from the French Alps. I have become a better trader every year. I know that a house is not a home without family. I know the real party is in Heaven. I skied first tracks at Vail. I cruised Pacific Coast Highway in a convertible. I was in New York for Fashion Week. I enjoyed the Changing of the Guard. I completed triathlons. I shopped Rodeo Drive. I’ve ridden cable cars in San Francisco. And, I believe living well is leaving things behind well.