[Vision2020] Might As Well Dance

[Ron Force]

Here's the story behind the column and the author.  It was actually written
when she was 63:


Last Tuesday, The Times profiled Ann Wells of Laguna Niguel, whose
13-year-old newspaper essay about loss and cherishing each day has been
reborn on the Internet. Wells, 76, penned the column a couple of years after
her sister unexpectedly died, and several years before she would lose her
husband.

Her work somehow made its way to the Internet, where it moves by e-mail and
chain letters, compliments of the forward button, and has been renamed "A
Story to Live By." Wells, a retired secretary and occasional freelancer, was
stunned that the essay, first published in The Times in April 1985, has been
zipping through cyberspace. She doesn't even have e-mail. "I'm as surprised
as anyone," Wells said.

Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, Calif.: Nov 22, 1998

**********************************************
Ron Force          Moscow ID USA
rforce at moscow.com
**********************************************

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
[mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]On Behalf Of For the Moment
Sent: Friday, July 09, 2004 11:16 AM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Might As Well Dance


This was written by an 83 year old...The last line says it all.

Dear Bertha,

I'm reading more and dusting less. I'm sitting in the yard and admiring the
view without fussing about the weeds in the garden. I'm spending more time
with
my family and friends and less time working. Whenever possible, life should
be
a pattern of experiences to savor, not to endure. I'm trying to recognize
these
moments now and cherish them.<snip>