Sunny Jimmy Version 7.0

In 1955, Eisenhower was President and West Germany was admitted into NATO. On October 19, 1955, "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" by the Four Aces was the number one song in the U.S. ("The Man from Laramie" by Jimmy Young was number one in the U.K.) and I was born in a hopsital in Chicago. I was born premature (I have been since), not quite ready for prime-time, and if I remember correctly, I came out feet first (I couldn't even do the birth thing right!) My mother never complained about this, she always just wanted me to be happy, I attribute my sunny smile to her. My father told me how he looked at me, a tiny new being, in an incubator, unable to be out in the world on my own. It's now 50 years later...a long strange trip, and strangely, a blink of an eye. They say that every seven years all the cells in your body "regenerate," so by my calculation I'm Sunny Jimmy Version 7.0. I feel more of myself than I've ever been, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, this morning, the Lovely Carla (the lucky ones have someone they can share the journey with) has left a little card at my keyboard, I open it up, and there's an ultrasound picture of her heart, and the following note...I think it gives you a flavor of some of my life (our life together)...

"James, I knew you were the one when...

you wanted to show me your rock collection
you played, "the kids are all right" for me
you let me read all your Raymond Carver novels
you explained what a trifecta was to me
you took me to see "The Deer Hunter," "Last Tango in Paris," "The Passenger," "Mean Streets," "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest", "Midnight Cowboy," and "Easy Rider," (over and over and over), Allen Watts "The Art of Meditation," and so on
we enrolled in Fencing Class, Acting Class and Psychic School together
you drove the paddle boat in Wisconsin
you took me to the Pat Metheny concert for my school paper
we walked the streets of Paris, Madrid, New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Dublin, Edinburgh, Boston, Miami Beach, and so on together
we slept in Big Sur with the fire blazing and the next morning we walked on the beach
we tried Indian, Thai, Middle Eastern, Italian, German, Japanese food together
we sat on a park bench in the square in Merida and watched the people and the birds together
we meditated on several mountains and under many trees together
you hiked around the castle in Majorca with me
you say "Carla"
you put the goat in Carolyn and Donald's tent
you went with me to put my dad's ashes into the ocean
you listen to me talk about my latest germ paranoia
we went to get Miles and Satchmo (the birds)
we laid in the shade of the monument at Chitzanizta and looked up at the big blue sky
we watched the moon rise and pretended the moon beam was our shining carpet to the next realm
I've been with you for over half of your life now, I hope it's been something for you too...
Your Soulmate
Carla"