Better Than Ever<br >One afternoon my daughter， Lisa， and I were going<br >through our collection of family snapshots. There was<br >one Milt had taken of me before we were married. I<br >looked at that long-ago girl， smiling at the man she<br >loved， and thought， "Oh， ff I could only start all over<br >again knowing what I know now. If only I had a sec-<br >ond chance..." At that moment I was sorry I did not<br >believe in reincarnation. It must be very comforting to<br >feel that one has many more lives ahead in which to<br >act upon the wisdom that it takes us so long to acquire.<br > That picture， taken over a quarter of a century ago，<br >reminded me of that bitter quip about youth being<br >too precious to waste on the young. It is right. It really<br > That evening I told Milt，<br >I started being middle-aged<br >are over."<br >"Don t laugh， but I think<br >today. My butterfly years<br > He did laugh.<br > "Forget it， he said. "Middle age is a thing of the<br >past. Your butterfly years are still ahead. You are just<br >emerging from your cocoon， dear. It takes a lot of liv-<br >ing to produce a butterfly."<br ><br >