Thanks, everyone, for all your what-makes-life-worth-living comments yesterday. I guess for me it'd have to include:
- Kittens, of course.
- Puppies, of course.
- Adult dogs and cats and also leopards which I wish to kiss on the head not to mention llamas and really everyone in the animal kingdom except some bugs and reptiles. (One thing that does not make life worth living? People who feel the need to explain to you the difference between bugs and insects.)
- French roast coffee
- Towels right out of the dryer
- The Turkey Roost in Kawkawlin, Michigan
- Thunderstorms
- Waking up near a lake and hearing it swoosh
- Strawberries
- My friends Donna, Dottie, Hulk, Lisa, Cardinal, Sandy and Paula. I can call them and in two syllables and they know the joke.
- Being with my family when everyone talks at once
- The Little House books
- The smell of Vicks Vapo Rub
- Remembering the way Mr. Horkheimer would FLUMP right next to me as soon as I sat down. He just FELT gray. I don't know how to explain it further than that. He was a solid cat in every way.
- Ned. Even if Ned is temporary, even if Ned turns out to secretly be a woman or something. Ned.
- When you have a funny exchange with a complete stranger
- Inn of the Seventh Ray in Los Angeles
- The canopy of trees as you drive to my house
- Stories about my Uncle Jim
- The taquitos at El Azteco in East Lansing
- Nora Ephron
- My Aunt Mary's laugh
- The song Tempted by Squeeze
- Dancing with my cousins at wedding receptions. We used to be the fun young cousins, and now we're teetering into the weird doddering old aunts.
- When the dogwoods bloom
- Edsel's underbite
- Stories about my grandmother
- The way the sun shines into my back room in the morning
- Texts from Hulk
- Tallulah's sigh when she gallumphs onto the other pillow at night
- Your comments
- Getting presents when you aren't expecting any
- Allure's Best of Beauty issue
- Watching It's a Wonderful Life, When Harry Met Sally, Arthur or Annie Hall for the 349493923943rd time
- When the phone rings and it's someone you haven't talked to in years, but you're thrilled to hear from them now
So I guess offing myself is not in the cards at present. And I'm gonna turn on the radio and hear some other song and say, "OH THAT TOO! THIS MAKES LIFE WORTH LIVING.
Sadly, that song will probably be by ABBA.
June, grateful.
