Summertime, and the livin' is easy

Summer is almost over, which always brings a bit of sadness. I think one of the reasons I became a college professor was that it allows me to have summers off.

I've spent a lot of time in the sun, contemplating my beautiful life and feeling thankful for everything we have. It's a strange feeling, to have no conflict in your life. I used to dream about this kind of love but never experienced it until Michael. We just love. That's all. No pretense, no hard work, just love. We're surrounded by friends and family and little children who all make life worth living.

We held a very large party at our home last weekend; kind of a summer fiesta with live music, food, and nearly 160 people consisting of friends, family, and lots of doctors. I felt a little stressed about having this many people at our house, but it was really amazing to see how much fun everyone had. I try to make things easy - nothing too fancy. We had a wonderful Mexican food place cater, but the highlight was a marguerita machine. It was like having a slurpee machine for adults. Forget the expensive wines (which were hardly opened). Everyone loaded up on frozen margueritas, danced, talked, and just had fun. No stress.

The highlight of the week was Michael's brother and sister-in-law who came in from New York and stayed with us for a week. They are so easy going - kind, interesting and just wonderful to be around. We spent a day at the beach, went out to a great burger joint in Santa Monica, saw the new Woody Allen film and spent a day in Santa Barbara. Still, the best times were spent talking into the wee hours of the morning about life, love, philosophy, and of course death. We were very sad to see them leave but one day Michael and I will live in Manhattan, at least part of the year.

I have a big birthday coming up at the end of the month and Michael just celebrated his last month. We ended our week with a little party for our closest friends and family at our favorite neighborhood Italian restaurant. Getting older doesn't seem like such a big deal when you're at a place you want to be. We leave for Kauai on Saturday for long days in the sun, walking, talking, laughing and making love. When we return from Hawaii, I begin a new full-time position as professor of journalism at the college where I began my teaching career. This big landmark of a birthday would have probably shaken me in the past, but life is so good that I really just thank the powers that be for every day on this crazy planet.

"Thank you God for my life. I forgot how big." -Joe Banks