Hot Damn! Once again the gods are having their way with me. The very best present I could imagine getting on the occasion of my 80^th would be to have my son Charlie here to celebrate with me. Instead, he’s going to be off giving advice to Laertes and Ophelia… and we already know how that turns out!

Yes, on the very day that I will be eating cake with friends and loved ones, Charlie will be playing Polonius at the Archway Studio Theater in Los Angeles. (If you happen to be in the area, the play opens February 19^th and runs through March 26^th, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, Tickets $30.) If ever I wished I could clone… seeing Charlie in “Hamlet” would be fabulous. Especially since he’s growing a beard for the part which I imagine will disappear shortly after the last curtain call!

Ironically, my mother spent her 80^th with Charlie. My dad had died in August and so, for her 80^th the following November we sent her to L.A. for sunshine, a visit with her girlhood friend M’Nell, and to stay with her only grandchild. I wrote to everyone named in her address book and invited them to a “card party for Dale” suggesting that they send her a birthday card, enclose a dollar bill or a teabag or some other teeny-tiny present. The goal was 80 cards and maybe $80 but she got many more greetings than that (and mad money enough for the next year at least!)

The only part of that entire scenario that I’m a tad envious about, of course, is the time-shared-with-Charlie part. Otherwise, I’m excited about this milestone birthday and look forward to spending it with my sweetie and our friends. I’m proud-as-punch of Charlie’s burgeoning second career. And, as far as the disappointment that we can’t clone is concerned, I’m reminded of those all-important words to live by: “Suck it up!”