Dear George,
Here it is again. Now it’s number eighty-eight, an age I never imagined I would reach. Actually it doesn’t feel that different from seventy-five or even sixty-two. Though it some ways these years get more relaxed and enjoyable as they move along.
I always like to look up the meaning of my birthday years, and eighty-eight presents a mixed picture. On the positive side, 88 is considered a very lucky number in Chinese culture, symbolizing wealth and prosperity. Many Chinese businesses incorporate 88 into their names or addresses. Likewise, numerologists view 88 as representing abundance, success, and infinity (due to the two eights which resemble the infinity symbol). In amateur radio and in Morse code, 88 is shorthand for “love and kisses”.
On the dark side, 88 has been adopted as a symbol by various neo-Nazi and white supremacy groups because “H” is the 8th letter of the alphabet and hence 88 stands for “Heil Hitler”. Because of this, the number 88 is banned for Austrian license plates and for Italian football jerseys. Perhaps not surprisingly, a recent poll indicated that 88% of Republican voters approved of the current president (who will remain anonymous on this blog).
Famous celebrities who are 88 years old this year include Morgan Freeman, Jack Nicholson, Billy Dee Williams, Robert Redford, Vanessa Redgrave, Shirley Bassey, Warren Beatty, Philip Glass, Margaret O’Brien, and many more. Famous 88 year olds who have died so far in 2025 include Pope Francis, singer Roberta Flack, former Cleveland Browns football player Bobby Ray Franklin, legendary horserace trainer Barry Hills, and Hollywood actress Maureen Hingert.
While we are prone to think of the late eighties in terms of disease and disability, that’s not my personal experience to date. Rather I feel healthy and active. In particular, there’s a great deal of freedom associated with one’s older years, plentiful time to pursue interests that one finds pleasurable. That’s my agenda for the coming year.
Love,
Dave
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