I shall now spend the next hour weeping, as I have just lost four wonderful paragraphs of writing. I cannot believe this. I went to Preview, then tried to go back, as I wanted to format them as they should have been formatted and 'poof' -- gone!

There is no way I can possibly repeat. Well, I shall instead write that this was not a good day. I have no fear of MY death, but getting old is getting harder and harder, as I keep losing my friends to death or Alzheimers or being snatched away by children who do not deserve them. I plan to stay in my apartment here until they take me out in a very small box and I no longer know or care.

Today I lost one of my oldest and best friends. His sister called me to tell me of his death and I did very little for the rest of the afternoon but cry, and it is going to take me some time to recover. My daughter, who adored "Uncle Bud" called me and was as shocked and upset as I. Tomorrow I will have to call some of our writer friends to tell them. It's going to be hard.

We women last longer...and I will probably last a lot longer, as I am descended from a tough Lancashire Lass...and a mean little Scottish grandmother, both of whom lived long lives. And, I am almost a vegetarian, and keep the blood pressure down. Boring life, but undoubtedly long.
Ah, well.....