Before and After

I cannot recall a July 1st in New York City as cool and dry as today. As the Fourth of July approaches, I think nostalgically of our many Fourths of July on Long Island playing in the annual three-day Liberty Bell golf tournament and celebrating with friends at their lake place in Connecticut. 

I tend to think of my life as having taken place before and after diagnosis. As I look back today, the 16 months since diagnosis seem almost as long as the 66 years preceding it. Yet, since diagnosis, I have celebrated only one round of birthdays for my wife, two children, mother, father, and myself, as well as one wedding anniversary, two Memorial Days, and one set of all other national holidays. My mother's second birthday since my diagnosis will be July 16.