Hello, old friend. I’m writing today to say thanks, and to say farewell. This will be my last column. I’ve been talking with you since 1987, through this and many other fine magazines throughout the U.S. and Canada. Thirty-six years is a long time and we have been to many places together.

I’m retiring because The Lovely Marianne, my wife of 50 years, went to Heaven last year and my thoughts are now constantly of her and all that we did together. And, there are our daughters, their good husbands, and our grandkids here in Maryland, where I moved when Marianne left us. There is love here in Maryland, and that is what I need right now.