Colleagues ...

... As I begin my first real day of retirement, I realize that what I miss most are my colleagues. They gave me quite a send-off Thursday (I'll be getting a Kindle soon, thanks to their generosity), and I didn't say much then, because I was engaged in a titanic struggle to keep my emotions (and tear ducts) under control. But I did manage to point out something that I think is worth repeating here: If you can manage find a way of earning a living that you like, you've got a good chunk of the personal happiness issue resolved, and an absolutely essential factor in that is your colleagues. Mine at The Inquirer were some of the brightest, funniest, and most caring people I have ever known, or can ever hope to know. I don't dare start naming names, because this post would never end. But right about now I would usually be having a chat with deputy features editor Michael Rozansky, one of the most perfect gentlemen I have ever met, and a hell of funny guy as well - I got some of my best lines from him, in fact. So may Michael serve as representative of all those people I no longer have the pleasure of spending my day with. Godspeed to them all.