Mill Creek Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

I wrote a column a while back about having dinner with old friends. It was a jokey piece about accepting certain limitations of aging, and the headline was “Navigating the last part.” This was ironic, although it would take some time to be clear.

I’ve made some penpals during the pandemic. They tend to come and go, mostly readers who send me an email and then just keep writing, although occasionally an old friend will check in. A woman I used to sit next to in French class, someone I haven’t seen in 40 years, texts me a couple of times a week now. None of it’s in French.

“When a...