On settling for real life.

A glamorous, happy and long life. I’ll settle for that. After 77 years, and counting, I’m on course. For it all. Yes, I want a storybook life.  A story to savor.  No need to write it. Like a novel. Better to live the story. Chapter by chapter. I like to write. Pursuing the craft every day. But I’d rather savor my dreams.  As real. Without pretending. Without fabricating.  No need for fiction. I write. Mainly to please myself. And a handful of others. Friends. Acquaintances. Been doing it since I was a youngster. In various forms. Mostly newspaper articles.  News. Features. Topics that intrigue me. Now a blog. Called ‘Broodings.’  Reflecting life. As a romantic idealist, a spiritual free-thinker, a political liberal, a lover, a dreamer. My kind of glamor. But best of all, I’ve had two true loves. My wife, Jeanne, in a marriage lasting 38 years. Until she died of Alzheimer’s 7 years ago. Instead of marking time, I’ve cultivated a second true love. An Italian. We split our time between paradises in Sardinia and Minnesota.  Yes, everything I want.  No novel. No storybook. I settle only for real life. Glamorous. Happy. Long. –Jim Broede