The first forty years of life give us the text, the next thirty supply the commentary on it. ~ Schopenhauer 40 years ago, my mother brought me into this world. For the next 37 years, my birthdays were etched with her in the picture.  Since I'm a summer birthday I spent most of my celebrations with Mom.  Even after college, when I immediately moved to NYC, my first phone call every August 8th was always from Mom.  Birthdays just weren't complete without Mom's involvement. How ironic that my mom's last trip out to the beach was to … [Read more...]