Lounge might be the wrong place but I need to unload

[DFW]

4. Two words of advice

The same words I was told after finding out I had two coronary arteries 99% blocked: cold turkey.

The hospital summoned my wife in the day after the stents were put in, and said OK, here are your options: from now on, no more butter, cheese, whole milk, peanut butter, eggs, red meat or ice cream. PERIOD. Either that, or your husband is back here in short order, and maybe only for an autopsy.

For that reason and no other, I NEVER say my health is "good"--only that my condition is stable.

I went on the medication they told me to take, and, as cruel as it was, went off all that good stuff. I was so rigorous about it that after a year my cholesterol went down way below the danger level, and the cardiologist told me I could loosen up a little, but only a little.

I had my cardiac near-miss in 2004, at age--guess what? 52. I'm 63 now. In those 11 years, I've seen my wife age hardly a bit (we're the same age), seen both my daughters graduate from college and get jobs that support them, traveled to countries I had never been to, played my guitar in front of Bill Clinton, played duets with Theodore Bikel and Howard Dean, hung with Barack Obama and Stan Lee, and made friends with the real Adrian Cronauer (the central figure in the "Good Morning Vietnam" story).

So, I ask you this: not knowing what the future holds, what would 11 extra years be worth to you?