Thanks for this great response! I feel as if I’m 66. I’m a lot more reality-based and contented now than I was when I was a teenager!

Which isn’t to say that I didn’t have lots of fun.

But I’m having lots of fun now.

I’d like to ask a favor — this essay, which is several months old, is suddenly getting a lot of reads and I’d love to know why. Would you tell me how you came across it?